I had planned to make a post this month about the evolution of self-portraiture stemming from an interesting passage in Walter Benjamin’s essay
A Short History of Photography. However, in my research, I discovered that one of my favorite photographers, Duane Michals, passed last month at 94 years old.
I’ve mentioned Michal on this blog several times and had the pleasure of meeting him at a book signing for his monograph
Empty New York in November of 2018, which I wrote about
here. While the work in question that night was his documentation of New York City in the early hours, a-la Eugene Atget, before gentrification and capitalism swept through and irreparably changed the face and feel of the city, Michals’ earlier work included very cinematic photographs, often with expressive blurbs written directly on the print. Michals made a lot of self-portraits, and many of these were diaristic, recording the important moments of his life.
In memory of such a determined, playful, and enthusiastic artist, below are some of my favorites of his self-portraits.
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| Duane Michals, Self Portrait As If I Were Dead, 1968 |
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| Duane Michals, The Occasion of My Fortieth Birthday, 1972 |
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| Duane Michals, Self-Portrait, 2024 |
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| Duane Michals, Self-Portrait, 2025 |
Rest in peace, Duane.
