Artist Statement Self-confidence is a major issue for a lot of people. Between unrealistic standards set by idols and public figures, followed by negative personal experiences and thoughts, feeling expected of the unattainable can take a toll on you without you even realizing it. Beyond this universal issue and the inevitable feeling of self-doubt, the most important thing about self-confidence that is often overlooked is how to build it up to a place of internal comfort. It may seem impossible, but that idea is just a display of one’s fear of overcoming the ego. The key to self-confidence is you, yourself, wanting to be confident in who you are, rather than determining your worth based on what other people may think. The phrase “Who cares what they think?” can be vague in validity and hard to accept, but once taken seriously, caring about what others think will eventually be laughable and impossible to apply to the way you view yourself. The positive things you say about yourself can be more assuring than what anyone will ever have to say about you. It’s easy to be a pessimist, but it takes courage to be an optimist. This series of portraits is called “The Good Side”, where I capture each subject's perceived good side of their face. Captured in film on a Nikon N6006 with a 24-50 mm lens, the photos taken vary in pose, lighting, and even tonality. All subjects have part of their personality shining through in some way. I found that in asking which side of their face they preferred, some had one and some didn’t. Although refuting my notions about having a good side at all, I thought it was perfectly fine not to have one. In fact, it allowed for the creative visions to come out more seamlessly. The subject was confident in how both sides looked, and that is what I want to express visually. From these images, I intend to shine a light on ideas of self-confidence rather than any ideas of self-doubt. It allows for both the subject and viewer to question the idea presented, and even disprove this idea that one side is perceived better than the other. This project opened my eyes to the lengths of deeply rooted issues about self-confidence within others, and most importantly, myself.