If you’ve followed me for long enough, you probably know I love a bathtub shoot. The vintage clawfoot in my old apartment became a notorious setting for portraits of both myself and others in 2021, but my first bathtub photos happened in a much shallower, more modest tub in 2018. The bathroom of my Church Hill townhouse got the best light in the house, and as I explored a self-portrait project I would eventually name Thicket of Trash, the tub became the central setting.
Over the last five years, I have photographed myself in nearly as many tubs, including in three different homes of my own and an Airbnb or two. The bathrooms just always have the best light, and tubs are nearly always white. If you’ve been to my home, you know a clean backdrop is hard to come by around here.
I have managed to cull 25 of my favorite tub self-portraits, starting with the very first (lounging in a pink sequin gown) and ending with four new photos (delineated by an abrupt change in hairstyle), shot on a mix of 35mm film and digital. Thank you for reading, you’re beautiful.