20th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Artistic
Surrender

Self Portrait shot on Polaroid as an Emulsion Lift transferred to glass. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I began a series using Self-Portrait as a tool to investigate my mental state. I was diagnosed with PTSD and started recording my days on Polaroids through Emulsion Lifts. I had the impetus to transform the image with my own hands. If I don't like an idea, why don't I like it? And if I deconstruct her whole, what does she become? The result has been therapeutic. Deconstructing a self-portrait was the beginning of a path of deep self-knowledge, as I felt the need to overflow into a physical, material format, feelings, and sensations that could not be spoken. Hybrid Photography is a revolution as it appears at a personal, intimate moment of usually pain and discomfort and naturally evolves into a healing place. Deconstrute to Reconstrute.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 03.2020
Date Uploaded: 11.2022
Photo Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Camera: ILCE-7M3
Copyright: © BRUNA VALENÇA