Me Myself. self portraits. (c) the author.

Me Myself

"I have been fascinated by the idea of self-portraiture from about the age of 10 when I first encountered a Photo Booth. In one way or another I have worked on the theme ever since. I am intrigued by the idea of having separate public and private personas. The photos on these two pages are all self-portraits taken by the same compact camera, an Olympus Mju. The project started life as a way to raise funds for Photo Works North. Local celebrities would photograph themselves and the work and camera would be auctioned. As is so often the case the project quickly took on a life of its own and the celeb element became less important.

The camera became a personal diary. For about two years it went everywhere with me. Over 100 rolls of film have been used. This set of pictures is the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to Olympus UK, Ilford UK for supplying the camera and materials and all those who took part, most of whom do not appear here".

Jim Maginn.

(This text has been reproduced from SOURCE Volume 2 Number 2 Spring 1995.)

Update: Over 500 rolls of film were eventually shot. The camera died in June 1997. The work was exhibited at The Old Museum Arts Centre Belfast and Clotworthy Arts Centre Antrim. There has been no interest in an auction however 16 X 12 B&W prints are still available from the series for £30.00 sterling each. All proceeds to Photo Works North.

This selection is from an original 20 X 40 composite print, a centrepiece of the exhibition. Spot the photographers, all of the following make an appearance.

Martin Parr, Paul Lowe, Victor Sloan, Paul Reas, Ed Kashi, Liam Blake, Paul Seawright, Gordon Parks and Paul McCaffery

If you look carefully you will also see:

Alvin Stardust, Mickey Donnelly, Donal Deeney, Leon McCauley, Michael Longley, Angie McManus, Paul Durcan, Liz Kennedy, Colin McGookin, John White, Joe Devlin, Bill Penney, Colin McKeown, Gerry Devlin, Una McCarthy, Dr Allaister McDonald, John Kelly and Gino Lupari.

Thanks to OLYMPUS Optical (UK) Ltd

for the camera,

Ilford for the film, paper and chemicals

and

SOURCE magazine for permission to reproduce these pages.

Back to "Me"

Unless otherwise stated ALL photographs on this page are

They may not be used, reproduced or copied without the consent of the author.

If this is not the "frames" version please click here.

Unless otherwise stated ALL photographs on this site are COPYRIGHT © Jim Maginn Belfast 2001 They may not be used, reproduced or copied without the consent of the author. The right of Jim Maginn to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

| Top |