3 months ago - reblog

“Hungry for Light” GDSP #22, Directed by thoughtsfromachair(10/52 - March 7, 2013)Self-Portrait by Ellie Lane
I have a love/hate relationship with the sun.

3 months ago - reblog

ellie-lane-imagery:

Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #1, Directed by Molly PeckClick here to read more about this amazing project!

Thank you all for your support of my photography venture over the past year! One year ago today, after I’d been photographing my cats for a couple months, I took my first self-portrait (above) on a whim as part of a project on Tumblr called GuestDirectedSelf, in which participants take self-portraits using instructions written by other participants. I badly needed an excuse to create, and GDSP gave me that and more. I immediately felt welcomed, supported and inspired by others on the project. I had no idea how I wanted my images to look, or what I wanted them to convey; I just wanted - no, needed - to create them. Over the past year, photography has enriched my life in more ways than I could’ve ever imagined. It has helped me make sense of myself, and others, which is something we all struggle with in one way or another. It has fulfilled me, frustrated me, excited me, challenged me, helped me grow. It has restored in me a sense of hope for the future, which is something I thought I’d lost long ago. It is the single most enriching thing I’ve ever done, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything or anyone. So, my advice: If there’s something you want to do - something daring or silly or intimidating or terrifying - DO IT. It just might change your life.

6 months ago - reblog

“black days”
Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #20, Directed by publicfru.it My heart and thoughts are with the victims of the Connecticut massacre and their families.

7 months ago - reblog

“strange little girl”
Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #18, Directed by viva-russianred
One of my greatest achievements in life is that I’ve never let go of my inner child. She’s a little shy, a little scared, a little wild and a lot strange. I live for her and I’d die for her.

9 months ago - reblog

“if you will move your icy hand”Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #17, Directed by silenceintended

10 months ago - reblog

“Bill Denbrough Beats the Devil”
Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #7, Directed by mortalcompass
I’d avoided this prompt for some time. Upon reading it several months ago, I knew in my gut that the coin I’d flip would land on “tails” and that I’d have to go out in public and get someone to ask me what I’m doing. On many levels, this terrified me. I flipped the coin anyway. As I predicted, it landed on tails.
Something most people don’t know about me: I grapple with anxiety and haven’t left the house alone in many years. Another thing most people don’t know about me: I often feel like an impostor. When I’m out in public, even so much as an aisle away from my husband in the grocery store, I always feel like someone will find me out and say, “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here! Who let you out?!” It’s a horrible feeling. I love the world, and I like being out in it, but my mind bangs with these sorts of thoughts all the time. It is, in a word, exhausting.
As a challenge to myself and my incessant mind, I set out to complete GDSP #7 on my own, alone. Today, I walked to a park near my house, toting a backpack, a camera and tripod, and a porcelain cat figure. My head pounded and my stomach was in knots the entire way. Despite my anxiety, I marched into the woods, which is actually part of a popular disc golf course, and started to set up my shots.
Several times, groups of young men strolled by and stared at me, but none of them asked what I was doing. I guess they didn’t think much of a young woman and a cat doll, hanging out in the woods. Had I not exhausted my courage for the day, perhaps I would’ve danced or sung or spoken in tongues. Instead, I just kept shooting.
Technically, I failed at this prompt - but, on some level, I feel victorious.

10 months ago - reblog

“lime green lime green and tangerinethe sickly sweet colors of the devil in my dreams”Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #16, Directed by gazzamie

10 months ago - reblog

Marion Silver, putting in her contacts and flossing her teeth.
Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #9, Directed by jacsfishburne

10 months ago - reblog

“afternoon delight, ii”
Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #15, Directed by woodprof - alternateSelf-Portrait by Ellie LaneTumblr | Facebook

10 months ago - reblog

“afternoon delight”
Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #15, Directed by woodprof
Self-Portrait by Ellie LaneTumblr | Facebook

11 months ago - reblog

“beneath the clouds of what was everything”
Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #14, Directed by rwfoster
I get angry when my favorite historic buildings are slated for demolition.

1 year ago - reblog

Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #11, Directed by josepha-olala

1 year ago - reblog

Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #13, Directed by therealkatiewestIn this GDSP prompt, Katie asks participants to take a photo with their fandom: their passion, their obsession. I have many passions, but hold dear to my heart a lifelong devotion to 1980s fantasy movies, particularly The Dark Crystal.
In this photo:- Darkness figure from Legend- Fizzgig stuffed figure from The Dark Crystal- vintage Dark Crystal lunchbox, with Thermos- a crystal I found as a child and pretended was actually part of the Dark Crystal itself- The Dark Crystal paperback by A.C.H. Smith- The World of the Dark Crystal hardcover by Brian Froud- uRac figure from The Dark Crystal- DVDs: The Dark Crystal, The Princess Bride, Willow, Labyrinth, Legend and The Neverending Story- Labyrinth T-shirt (not vintage, unfortunately)- The Princess Bride pin (also not vintage)
Not pictured/tucked away: - VHS tapes of the above films, along with versions recorded from TV by my grandpa with commercials intact
The characters and worlds in these films are so deeply a part of me that I can’t imagine my life without them. I can say with absolute certainty that I am who I am because my grandpa taped them from TV and encouraged me to watch them. Since then, on a daily basis, they’ve impacted my life, shaped my dreams, and given me something to believe in. I’ve never stopped believing - not for a moment.
“As children, we all live in a world of imagination, of fantasy, and for some of us that world of make-believe continues into adulthood.” - Jim Henson

1 year ago - reblog

Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #10, Directed by electronicalrattlebag
This GDSP prompt asks the participant to take a picture with an important thing. In this photo, I’m wearing all of my dog’s collars from her nearly nine years of life. In December 2008, her death created an expansive rift in my life: Before and After, With and Without. Her collars and leashes are important to me, but I don’t know that I’d save them in a fire. In fact, I might one day burn them in her memory.
They feel and sound empty, but they smell and taste like dirt and dog.

1 year ago - reblog

Guest-Directed Self-Portrait #8, Directed by theivorytowercrumbles

Art model and photographer from southwestern Ohio.

Occasionally NSFW.

Feel free to reblog, but please retain credits.

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