Every so often I take a break from paid work and shoot photos purely for the love of it. So I took the day off last Friday to explore visual concepts around Persona and Shadow self.
Most portraits only capture the external appearance – the mask.
The psychologist Carl Jung had a name for this: the Persona — the social mask we wear to function in the world. We show only part of our true nature.
A good thing, society couldn’t function otherwise. There would be chaos. But Jung also believed there’s another part of us that we usually keep hidden: the Shadow Self.
Not necessarily evil — just unowned. The emotions we’ve edited out. The instincts we’ve learned to suppress. The traits we were told were “too much” or “not enough.” And sometimes… the most powerful parts of us.
A rigid Persona creates a darker Shadow. The more we work on creating a good impression, the more we conceal. The more we perform as we think others would like, the more we disconnect.
The relationship between the two shifts depending on context: who we’re with, what we’re doing and the expectations of those around us. Even our public persona is fragmented as we edit down still further so we can fit in.
The Persona and Shadow are not Good and Bad — because Jung’s whole point is this:
When we acknowledge the Shadow, we become
More whole.
More grounded.
More charismatic
More real
Bolder and more confident
There’s nothing more compelling to photograph than authentic complexity. It also prompts the question – what would your Persona look like on camera? …and what might your Shadow reveal?
