Sense of Self

by Jane Szabo

Graciously infused with movement, Sense of Self is a series of expressive, conceptual self-portraits. Using movement and light to create a blurred, diffuse quality, I confront my own vulnerability, as well as my attempts to create a sense of order from the natural chaos of personal environment and emotion. 

Intimate and evocative, the luminous images expose the attempt to shape boundaries in my life. I focus on capturing my innate need to grid, sort, map, and control – as well as a potent dichotomy - my desire to escape from oppressive, constraining self-regulation. 

I shot these images after photographing environmental portraits of others, images that tapped into the subjects’ rich psychology. Through this series, I sought to visualize my personal zeitgeist and my own self-identity.

[clicking on an image will bring up a lightbox]

About Jane

Los Angeles-based conceptual artist Jane Szabo merges a love for fabrication and materials with visceral photographic images. Using hand-made constructions, self-portraiture, and still life, she shares stories that explore her personal experiences through an astonishing lens of self-exploration and identity. 

Szabo’s work has been exhibited in solo shows at Foto Relevance Gallery in Houston, TX, John Wayne Airport, the Museum of Art & History in Lancaster, CA, Foto Museum Casa Coyoacán in Mexico City, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Yuma Fine Art Center in Arizona, and Los Angeles Center for Digital Art.

She was recently commissioned to create a series of environmental portraits for the Museum of Art & History. The social engagement project #countmein was funded by the California Arts Council and the California Community Foundation. The museum acquired 71 images from the series for its collection. Her art is also in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Szabo’s work has been shown in group exhibitions at the Spartanburg Art Museum, Oceanside Museum of Art, Griffin Museum of Photography, Florida Museum of Photographic Arts, Brand Library Gallery, Photo LA, LA Art Fair, Kaohsiung International Photographer Exhibition in Taiwan, and Foto Fever in France.

Additionally, Szabo’s photographs are featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, Lenscratch, Mono Chroma, Silvershotz, Bokeh Bokeh, L’Oeil de la Photographie, Catalyst Interviews, Fraction, A Photo Editor, Don't Take Pictures, Women Eco Arts Dialog, and others.

She holds an MFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif.

More of Jane’s work can be found at her website: https://www.janeszabophotography.com/

From the Editor

Hello readers,

I stumbled across Jane Szabo’s Sense of Self several years ago. I no longer remember how I came upon it; I did not know her and had never interacted with her. But I knew I was wowed by this work! And that viewing this portfolio made me want to know Jane – because the work was so personal and vulnerable.

I had the occasion to meet her at Photolucida in 2017 and stayed in contact via social media as well as ensuing review events. I followed Jane’s path and watched from afar as she developed other bodies of work; took workshops; became a Kipaipai Fellow. In mid-2020, I joined her as an alumnus of that program.

Though not one of Jane’s most recent series, it remained embedded in my mind over the years. Sometimes we who are artists find our endeavors drown in the passage of time, yet not all belong solely in the reservoirs of the past. I wanted to showcase Sense of Self here so that those unfamiliar with it might discover its energy and originality. Yet I know that many readers probably already knew this work. If that is you, I hope you will revisit it like the first time I saw it – with eyes full of awe and admiration.

–Diana Nicholette Jeon