The self-portrait is a pain in the butt. It’s difficult and generally unsatisfying. Yet it’s something that I, an individual not necessarily driven by an obsession for perfection, want to do accurately.

I think, perhaps ignorantly so, that of all artists photographers may very well have the most difficult time with self-portraits, and painters the easiest.

When photographers photograph a composed portrait, they are visually representing and describing a character that may or may not be the subject of the photograph.

Sometimes people set out, in journalism for example, to take a picture of a specific, identifiable subject.

Other times the photographer may be photographing anyone, existent or not, who will function as a model or an actor performing a certain character.

To me, the self-portrait is different from simply posing for oneself in a picture or a painting.

A self-portrait is an image about you, not just of you. In the standard form, however, you are also required to be in that image in some way.

To take or make an accurate portrait of somebody, ideally the image should portray something about his or her essence. It might be an experience they’ve been through, or perhaps a snapshot of their personality.

But either way, it should tell you something about that person, or give you a sense that you know something about him or her.

That’s why it’s easier to take a picture or paint a portrait of someone else. Because you are at a distance from them, you can analyze them, maybe subconsciously, which enables you to summarize something about them in a satisfying manner.

Self-analysis is incredibly difficult, especially when you’re sitting in front of the camera, muscles tense and stance posed.

You can’t be in two places at once, so it’s impossible to both be the subject-soother and image-snapper behind the camera as well as the ball of clay in front of it.

You have to mold yourself perfectly, yet remain entirely natural … Paradoxical? Yes!

Painters have an easier job because they can paint themselves without being restricted by the way their face actually looks. It’s still just as difficult to do self-analysis, but colors and lighting are easier to manipulate.

For example, in some of the self-portraits that the famous painter Pablo Picasso created, he abandoned portraying a realistic structure of his face and drew disproportionate facial features, like wide eyes and a large nose. He also allowed colors to aid him, creating dramatic shadows and swirls of unnatural skin tones.

Matisse’s “Self-Portrait in a Striped T-shirt” was no exception to the painter’s ability to masterfully use colors.

Photographers are limited, not taking into consideration severe photo manipulation, by their face and body. They can use light and color in the setting, but they can’t make their skin green or their nose exponentially larger on the spot.

On the other hand, with the luxury of digital photography, photographers can try over and over and over again without having to worry too much about cost, and painters can’t on the same budget.

Also, photographers get quicker results, making it easier for them to revise and reflect in a quicker manner.

In the end, self-portraits of any medium are bound to be difficult.

Personally, I feel comfortable saying that it’s going to be me in front of my tripod for a long time before I’m satisfied with the results.