Self Indulgence
October 7, 2010 from 2:00–3:30 PM

  • May 12, 2009 by Jeff Harris

    May 12, 2009 by Jeff Harris

  • July 05, 2009 by Jeff Harris

    July 05, 2009 by Jeff Harris

  • August 10, 2009 by Jeff Harris

    August 10, 2009 by Jeff Harris

Jeff Harris takes one self-portrait a day; a challenge that not only flexes his photographic muscle but also pushes him to lead a fuller life. This daily exercise has sharpened Jeff’s sense of composition, expanded his creative approach to imagery, and demonstrated the importance of narrative within a body of images.

This presentation will document the evolution of Jeff’s photography practice, taking the audience from his naïve early photographs to creating pictures that resonate in a deeper way due to life-altering personal experiences. Harris will speak about the pressure and payoff of such a regimented project, the influence that other photographers like Cindy Sherman, Martin Parr and William Eggleston have had on his work, and the experience of being a self-exposed subject in the era of Facebook and photo blogging.

Speakers

Jeff Harris jeffharris.org

Toronto based artist, Jeff Harris, has made a self-portrait every day since January 1, 1999. This body of photographs (4,108 of them as of March 31, 2010) are displayed at jeffharris.org. This series first appeared online at the vanguard of the blogging revolution and eleven years later this project still stands well above the crowd. The site was nominated three years in a row for a Webby Award, and has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, and on Fashion Television. The innovative nature of the photographs and website, the participation of relevant famous figures (Al Gore, Isabella Rossellini and Gene Simmons are among the contributing photographers), and the sheer magnitude and persistence of this project makes the work very poignant, accessible and exciting to the public. This poignancy is amplified by Jeff’s recent life-altering cancer diagnosis in November 2008.

Raised and educated in Ontario, Harris taught a high-school course in website design for at-risk youth before working as a photo editor and website designer for Adbusters magazine in Vancouver. He won a Webby Award in 2000 for his work on adbusters.org and is currently a photographer and photo editor at Maclean’s magazine in Toronto.