5 Self-Portrait Artists You Should Know

It takes a lot of guts to do a powerful self-portrait. After the jump, my 5 favorites du jour, starting with:

Ali Mahdavi

Ali Mahdavi was born in Tehran (Iran) in 1974. He’s an accomplished fashion/celebrity photographer and a clothing designer for Thierry Mugler, but his most passionate and interesting works are, to me, his self-portraits. The creepy baby-photo above is from a two-part series called My Baby Cares For Me, and the cenobite-like images below are fom a 6-part series called As You Desire Me. See them all on his site.

Alyz Tale

Elegy editor Alyz Tale is like a real-life Amelie Poulain. In this whimsical series, she expresses her moods through shoes and socks. But she’s not just another pretty pair of feet; her self-portraits where the face is seen (here, here and here) are equally compelling.

Aaron Hawks

Aaron Hawks is a fucking pervert, and a total nerd. A nerdvert. He appears in many of his images looking like the lascivious ghost of Buddy Holly, in turns placing the models or being placed by them in compromising positions. What’s always struck me about Aaron Hawks’ work is that every woman I know loves it! Many photographers who have similar themes can really gross me out, but somehow in his photos, no matter what’s going on, it looks like a good time is had by all.

Kimiko Yoshida

Kimiko Yoshida takes self-portraits of herself as brides from different cultures, be they geographical or ethereal. Above, you have the Mao Bride, then clockwise The Sakura Bride, The Cyber Bride, The Green Tea Bride and The Akha Bride of Thailand. Thanks, Lucylle, for the tip! Yoshida has received some excellent write-ups on The Pink Tentacle and Ectomo.

Lilya Corneli

Lilya Corneli takes moody self-portraits full of color and grain. She relies heavily on makeup and textured fabrics such as veils to create a mood. Many girls who create these types of self-portraits, with gauze and lipstick and doll-like skin, project this aura of “hey, assholes! I’m HOT.” But Corneli’s images don’t give that impression at all. There’s something honest about them.

12 Responses to “5 Self-Portrait Artists You Should Know”

  1. chaoflux Says:

    I like this post.

    To keep in the spirit of things, here is something I did last night.

  2. lucylle Says:

    I always loved Aaron Hawks’ photography, how he uses urban decay/abandoned places far beyond the overabused clichés that come with that type of imagery…

  3. Laura Gardner Says:

    You are amazing coilhouse, my college Fine art project at the moment is on ‘alternative self-portrait’! This entry will help a great deal. :D

  4. gooby Says:

    Jesus, I am discovering I have such a palette fetish, I keep looking at those Alyz Tale pieces thinking, “Oooohhhmmmmfffff, those colors ….. They are sooo hot…”

  5. James Shearhart Says:

    Aaron Hawks’ nudes reminded me of a local fella’s work, only more whimsical – with occasional cat.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/merkley/

  6. gooby Says:

    Ahh, Merkley…

    There’s nothing better than viewing uncomfortable and insecure scenester girls disrobing through the eyes of a skillful and opportunistic predator to remind me of what its like to be a man…

  7. Nelly Says:

    I ADORE Ali Madhavi ! brilliant photographer !

  8. d Says:

    ah i love reading this blog. thanks for the heads up on some amazing artists. very inspiring..

  9. Inner, El Pendejo » Blog Archive » El autorretrato en la fotografia actual Says:

    […] Fuente: Coilhouse – 5 Self-Portrait Artists You Should Know […]

  10. January 2008 « Tending2entropy’s Weblog Says:

    […] http://coilhouse.net/2008/01/22/5-self-portrait-artists-you-should-know/#more-471 […]

  11. multi_one_one Says:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/34311803@N06/

  12. Disposable Darling » Blog Archive » Art Cram Says:

    […] Check out this post on self-portrait artists from Coilhouse. […]