I chose to take my self portrait in the kitchen of my apartment in Dallas because it shows exactly what I like to do with time on my hands. Preparing  meals for my friends and I to share has become apart of my daily routine at school. Being able to cook makes home feel not so far away. Everyday, I feel so fortunate to share a home cooked meal with my friends. Although we have such busy lives, we always find the time to connect over dinner. 

 

In this image, I am preparing soup. On Monday’s I always make soup with whatever I have left in my fridge before I go grocery shopping on Tuesday. While this is an element that couldn’t be told just from the image itself, it is a detail that speaks to my resourcefulness. It is a priority of mine to not waste food. I wish I was able to convey this layer of my personality through the image. Another thing I really care about is health, which begins in my kitchen where I prepare healthy and filling meals. 

 

I found using the self timer on my camera to be challenging. Trying to achieve a natural image with such little time to get from behind the camera to in front of it in a natural pose was a struggle. After many tries, I was able to get a photograph that seemed authentic. 

 

Another challenge I faced while creating this image was the lack of natural light that reaches my kitchen. There are no windows in that space, which made it difficult to achieve the natural lighting I prefer for a photograph. I worried that this limitation would negatively impact the quality of the image or make the scene feel too dark. However, after reflecting on how I actually use my kitchen, I realized that this lighting set up was more authentic than forcing something artificial. 

 

 

The aspect of this process that I felt most confident about was my decision to represent myself through cooking. Cooking felt like the most natural way to show who I am, because it is something that brings me comfort and joy. It is really just an extension of myself. Cooking is representative of not only how I care for myself, but for others as well.