Find the self in Cecilia Paredes’ camouflaged self-portraits

Photographer Cecilia Paredes is nearly indistinguishable from the loud wallpaper and fabric patterns she uses in her ongoing portrait series.                                 

Because she acts as the subject in most of the images, her assistants are charged with rehearsing and then painting the matching pattern onto her skin with body paint.

“The main challenge is not the actual match of the pattern,” Paredes says, “but to come across with the message I as an artist would like to convey.” This means thoughtful posing and positioning of painted body parts to communicate a mood or story, she explains.

Paredes began the series when she moved from Costa Rica to the United States. It touches on the challenges of blending into a new culture while fearing losing oneself.

Amanda Arnold is associate editor of Professional Photographer.