Self Portrait #10
The Spring of Inner Joy
Captured in Riga, Latvia, while on assignment for a commercial shoot, this self-portrait is part of my ongoing "Self Portrait" collection (begun in 2007 during my international tours with Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake), which documents moments of intimacy and discovery in the places my professional dance career has taken me.
The love we seek most urgently is often the love we deny ourselves: the simple, careless joy of being present.
In this image, I spontaneously test the quality of the springs myself. This sudden, childish act—the exhilaration of jumping on a hotel bed—is a visceral moment of self-love and radical presence.
As children, we were naturally driven by impulse and delight; we were careless in the best sense of the word, doing only what made us happy. As we mature, we replace that freedom with caution, responsibility, and the fear of judgment. This fear slowly diminishes our capacity for fun, binding us in self-imposed restraint.
Self Portrait #10 is a visual declaration of defiance against this self-censorship. It asks: Do you love yourself enough to be spontaneous? To reclaim the instinctive, unapologetic joy of your youth? To simply be careless with happiness, even for a moment?
Love is not only found in grand gestures; it is remembered in movement, in the lighthearted decision to jump, to fall, and to feel the spring of life beneath you. It is a reminder that we must consciously choose to liberate our inner child and give ourselves permission to experience uninhibited, unbridled joy.
Photo: Cody Choi
-
PRODUCT INFO
Edition of 30 for 20 x 30 inch
Edition of 20 for 30 x 40 inch
Edition of 10 for 40 x 60 inch
Printed on C-type Fuji Crystal Archive Photographic Matt Paper
