Bronze in Portraiture/Self-Portrait / 2025 / Portraiture / Self-Portrait

• Prize
  Bronze in Portraiture/Self-Portrait
• Photographer
  Ton Schless, United States

Echoes of Self is a seven-chapter self-portrait series exploring memory, identity, and the passage of time in search of Ikigai, life’s purpose. Created with a 4x5" camera using the 1800s dry plate process, each image is both artifact and metaphor. Natural elements and process imperfections mirror the fragility of memory and the evolving self. As photographer and subject, I embody impermanence. This work invites viewers to reflect on their own echoes, what remains, what fades, and what guides them forward, their Ikigai.