The Benefits of Boredom

I was on my way home from either school or a drinking session somewhere, and waiting at the station for a train that seemed to be punctual only to the hour. Gazing at my watch didn't make the time go any faster, surprisingly, so I fished my flip phone from my pocket and began mashing the buttons. After a while of doing this, I noticed the phone switch to camera mode and display a blurry image of the ground below me. This intrigued me immensely and I began snapping wildly at the surrounding environment, capturing this fence and that bin, and this discarded chocolate bar wrapper and that tree. Soon, however, I grew tired of this and I begun to wonder what I could do to make it more interesting. Then it struck me. What would happen if I took a picture of myself? Instead of merely theorising this thought, I held the phone out in front of me, uttered a small prayer and snapped. I opened my eyes. I was still there. Panting, I reviewed the picture on the phone. It was incredible. It was... me.

After snapping approximately forty four similar shots, I was startled to discover that it had lost none of its charm. Indeed I even began to hope the train would be delayed even longer and give me more excuses to further my Art. But, alas, the train did arrive, and its crowded carriages stunted my photography. I used this time to review the photos I had already taken. They were all incredible. To the casual observer, they may all look so similar that you'd wonder why I took so many, but to anyone with an open mind, they were a revelation. I excelled in subtlety. A slight change of angle here, a minor tilt of the head there and, in extreme cases, a change in location, was all I needed to explore the inner depths of my soul. And it never got indulgent. Perhaps that was the thing that surprised me most. No matter how many seemingly identical photos I took of myself, they all maintained a freshness and vitality that would put most galleries to shame.

Sometimes, just sometimes, I'd squeeze someone else's head in there, but they were much less successful and, as a result, much rarer. They were crass rather than intimate and personal; they had no point. With the self-portraits, I was exploring a theme, and each photo developed that theme; with the group shots, I was just having fun with my friends. Now, there's nothing wrong with having fun with friends, but really, it's not art.

Having thousands of shots on my phone was all very well and good, but nobody was seeing them but me. That was indulgent, I'll admit. So I decided to upload them to my website, which was probably the most significant development in my art. Now everybody saw them. And everybody loved them. I was afraid people wouldn't understand it, and there were a couple of people who clearly didn't, but on the whole the response was overwhelmingly positive. I had struck gold.

The great thing about the series is that it will always remain fresh and interesting. Why? Because I keep changing. It's a reflection of me, where I'm at when I took it. It's comforting. It's a friend when you're lonely. I hope you all enjoy it.