TexasGirl Photography

Hooray I am another year older! I’ve been making and publishing an annual selection of self portraits for 10 years now: since I was 38. It’s interesting how you can start a project and all of a sudden you realize you’ve been working on it for a decade!

Just to be clear, I am not 48. I am now 49; the photos I’m sharing here are all from my 48th year. It was a big one! My only child started – and finished – her senior year of high school. She drove herself around, applied to college, went on a senior trip, took exams, and graduated; she did all the things! At the end of it all, after a wonderfully long summer mostly together like we haven’t known for many years, we traveled to Ireland together (the North), where we enjoyed many adventures and I eventually left her in a student flat to start a new adventure of her own.

So, it was one heck of a year for milestones, and I tried to focus on myself as little as possible other than taking care of my health (both physical and mental).

I feel as if I didn’t do quite as much photography as usual over the past 12 months, but whatever lack there might have been during a “regular” month I certainly made up for during the two weeks of traveling I did overseas. It had been a long time since I went over that way, so the experience had the odd sensation of waking up to an old life after a very long sleep full of dreams.

Now here I sit on the other side of another great birthday, looking at my present in a little bit of bewilderment and taking things one day at a time, which is probably for the best anyway. Huge milestones, anyone?

This is the time of year when a lot of things are happening on weekends, all of them photographable. The above photograph is from the Taylor Main Street Car Show, coming up in a couple of weeks. I have happy memories from last year’s, and I’m holding a little hope in my heart that maybe it will have cooled down a little by then!

Mirrors and windows are my friend as usual when it comes to making self portraits, because I am lazy and don’t want to pull out my tripod! Also shadows: I like those too.

It’s been an interesting challenge to document myself throughout so many years! Probably soon I should try to do at least one proper portrait, with sharp focus, to expose the changes. We might not like to acknowledge them, but I am aware of their presence on my face – and more than just my face! The REAL challenge is how I let them effect me: do I embrace them, and let them be the natural part of me that they are? Except for the fact that I color my hair because I am not ready to go down the grey road yet, my answer is yes. I will roll with it. Any other approach seems like a waste of time to me. There’s a famous quote about how “there’s no use arguing with the inevitable. The only argument available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat.” (James Russel Lowell) So, hello overcoat of eating properly, sleeping plenty, and exercise!

Thank you for looking at my photos! They were all made with film. Wishing you a present moment full of joy and hope!