One of the more intriguing prompts from the recently finished 2024 Bingo Challenge is the faceless self-portrait. When I teach my workshops, I always ask at the end of every session for the participants to share a takeaway from the challenge. Invariably, someone mentions how surprised they are by how differently everyone approached the challenge.

Personally, I’m rarely surprised. Because I swim in the world of creatives (rather than tech, government, or another administrative job) I see how incredibly diverse this world is. And honestly, it is diverse without even trying! Why?

Because when are each made up of a unique set of experiences, culture, influences, friendships, thoughts, hopes, and dreams. All these inputs, both external and internal, create an unending number of unique possible outcomes. I want to share a few of the entries for the faceless self-portrait prompt. What better way to see how diverse the outcome can be when seen through a close group of toy photographers.

In my experience, the faceless self-portrait can either be a (mostly) straightforward representation of our real selves. Or it can act as a metaphor for an idea of who we are. Let’s look at these two types as seen through the photographic lens of members of our MeWe Community

The faceless self-portrait as a representation

First up is Tao Liao. He sent in his entry for the 2024 Bingo Challenge in late December. I think he created more than 1/2 of his images in the final month. (Ok, that’s probably an exaggeration!). But seriously, Tao was waylaid by life, and when he came back to the challenge he had some catching up to do. This image is a physical representation of his panic and desire to cross that metaphorical finish line. Congratulations Tao…you did it!

by Tao Liao. “I took this photo while trying to finish up the Bingo challenge and this basically captured my state of panic with the finish line being so close and I was still not done.”

The next example comes to us from Chellie Hyre. Here we see her LEGO representation holding a camera taking a photo of the wintery landscape. If you follow Chellie on Instagram you know that her toys are often adventuring in a beautiful outdoor landscape. This is because she takes them on wonderful photography adventures all over the world. So it’s only fiting that her faceless self portrait should feature both toys and a beautiful outdoor setting.

by Chellie Hyre

Clearly Mary Wardell had a similar idea with faceless her self-portrait. But with her own twist to the theme. Mary has a whimsical nature and loves the holidays. So she aimed her LEGO camera on to a happy elf sledding in the snow. You can make out other toys and colored shapes in the background. This is hinting at the extensive collection of toys that Mary has collected over the years. And I also suspect this background represents of a delightfully cluttered workspace. 😀

by Mary Wardell

Even though Janan Lee uses the Mandalorian and Grogo as the subjects of his faceless self-portrait, I feel his image is closer to representation than allegory. The role of father is a big part of his life. With a growing family and many responsibilities, I see more of Janan the fatherly caretaker in this image. The fun of using toys to create a faceless self-portrait is that you can overlay your story onto the story of the character you choose. Which brings me to the faceless self-portrait as a metaphor.

by Janan Lee

The faceless self-portrait as a metaphor

Liz Fagel, while not new to photography, is new to using toys as a subject. This gives her work a delightful outsider perspective. Because toys as a motive are fairly niche, our communities can be fairly closed as well as inspirational. Which might be why I thoroughly enjoyed this image of ET in a mask often scene at a costume ball. Its easy to draw a relationship between this set up and the photographer who ‘hides’ behind the camera. But also to the idea of ET wearing disguises in the movie, all of us are hiding behind masks, as well the image of an elaborate costume ball straight out of a movie or book. Putting a mask on an alien gives an added dimension of who are the aliens among us?

Can you see the difference between the faceless self-portrait as a metaphor vs a representation?

by Liz Fagel

The following image by Stellan Johansson images makes me laugh. I mean who amongst us has never felt like this hapless stormtrooper being attacked by an alien-style face hugger? Many years ago I wrote about how stormtroopers are the every person of the toy photographer. For so many of us, this character can be anyone who is a faceless and nameless cog in the machinery that is the world. Stellan had mentioned in the community chat how he struggled with several of his ideas. Mostly around capturing the right weather. As any outdoor toy photographer knows, many ideas get scuttled because of circumstances beyond our control. I take this image as a wonderful metaphor for the eternal struggles of the toy photographer.

by Stellan Johnsson

While I did not take part in the 2024 Bingo Challenge, I like to think that all my photos are faceless self-portraits. The below image is a recreation of the final image in The Story of Ferdinand. A children’s book whose message of follow your bliss while never forgetting to smell the flowers has stuck with me well into adulthood. I often feel like Ferdinand. I find myself metaphorically sitting in a corner by myself doing my own thing. Looking back on my life I’ve noticed that I’ve repeatedly resisted being placed in the boxes that others think I should be in. Ferdinand is my inspiration as well as my metaphorical self-portrait.

by Shelly Corbett

Faceless self-portraits lens themselves to wonderful out-of-the-box approaches. This image by Sophie takes an accessories-only approach to revealing and defining herself. Each of the LEGO accessories she has chosen to define herself is open to interpretation. When I look at this image I see so much specificity as well as ideas and hobbies that are universal.

by Sophie Hahn

Your faceless self-portrait

Now that I’ve shown you a few examples of what a faceless self-portrait can look like, I challenge you to create your own. As you can see, even if everyone works from the same prompt – the possible interpretations are endless! Ideas to consider when you create a faceless self-portrait are:

  • What emotion do you want to convey?
  • Do you want to show a favorite activity that defines your sense of self?
  • Maybe there is a particular location that is important to you.
  • Do you want to portray who you are right now?
  • Who will you be in five, ten, twenty years?

When we consider how we see ourselves vs how others see us, the possibilities really become endless!

I’m proud of the members of the Toy Photographers community that they’re willing to push the envelope of creativity. That they take on these delightfully open-ended prompts and create images that are both silly and deeply moving.

What will you create? If you decide to take on this challenge, be sure to tag @_toyphotographer_ or @shellycorbettphotography on Instagram for a chance to be featured. Or better yet, join our fun and supportive MeWe Community.

~ Shelly