I want to keep the focus off of me. Sometimes, I'll act something out for the camera (play a character) because it's easier for me that way. The dog, the doll, and the classy Criterion dvds are meant to distract your attention. When I was a teenager, I had such terrible acne that I wore concealer makeup to school every day. I did not want to be looked at; I dreaded class photos because I knew I would be found out. I never got over that need to hide in plain sight when photographed.

My profile picture doesn't reveal my physical characteristics. No one really cares to see the years effects. I chose more of a representation of my life. With each dark storm comes light.

This photo would suggest the current avatar of a not-so-current "Downeaster" trying to recapture the bucolic memories, sounds and smells of a slower, kinder time: the smell of the fresh-frozen winter air; the skunky-sweet waft of pine needles on the wet forest floor; the crunch of day-old snow under my boots; and the balm of the east coast seashore - a native New Englander - permanently grounded in the southern desert for one reason or another. The seaweed-layered white sand beaches have been replaced by the pale hot Sonoran floor; the blue spruce replaced by cacti and mesquite; and the plucky sea gulls replaced by scavenging raptors. So! Here I sit in the desert, steeped in the palms and yucca, ALL these years later – all dressed up and . . . . waiting for ‘winter.’ Ironic, yes?

Description: "On the surface, you have me dressed as John Bender from "The Breakfast Club" in a Halloween-inspired tribute to John Hughes. Beneath the surface, at least to me, it's a reminder of a path in life I stepped away from. My initial plans, post college, were to go into film and television, specifically screenwriting. I'm currently working a job to pay the bills, which more or less sapped the drive I had to continue to pursue that path. Luckily, I was able to pick up an interest in photography and have devoted my time to making that work. Still, every Halloween, I do my best to produce a movie-inspired Halloween costume as both a tribute to the film and a reminder of the past.

I was recently asked what I recalled from my [nearly] 60 years. Everything! I recall the myriad years of growth, failure, recovery, balance and re-acquantance with myself. I continue to grow, tear down and repair the fabric of this leased vessel in which I dwell. My soul and spirit remain sturdy, unbroken, strong enough to endure anything; however, the body has suffered its aging blows. Life is awesome, though, for this crazy person. Those who live in my orbit, those who know and understand the fugue state in which I live seem to love me in spite of me. I feel very lucky, very fortunate, to somehow have managed to surround myself with the most precious, wonderful, loving people. the poetry of this journey is so befitting the telling of the tale in my halcyon years. As someone very dear to me recently noted: 'and then, one day, she learned to dance.' Remarkable observation! And so correctly stated.

I don't want people to see an image of me. I'm getting divorced and struggling with redefinition. I haven't changed my status from "married" on facebook, but I did take down a picture of my face and replaced it with this one. This is a photo of a window installation I did this summer in the place I was living. The printed text on the cards reads: TIME GOES FASTER and THE TRUTH CHANGES. Two different men said these phrases to me this summer, in the building where the window installation was hung.

The picture was taken from my computer of me in my brand new studio space. I haven't been in school in a year and the look on my face is a mixture of nervousness and excitement. Not only have a left a warm tight knit community, but a great job. This is truly the beginning of a new life in a strange place.

I use this profile pic on all my social networking accounts and have for about a year. It's from an odd stretch of time in my life. It says: I live in a German family's attic and take care of their children while they are at work. Here are the worldly possessions I've collected in my time here. I am learning Photoshop in my copious spare time. It's lonely and weird in this village, but not totally uninteresting. I'm just rolling through, though. I'm curious about this village and its customs, but I've constructed a forcefield of library books, office supplies in recycled baby food jars, spray deodorant, and flatbread. If things get ugly out there, I could just hole up in this attic indefinitely and photoshop the world the way I want it. My Real Life is somewhere else (temporarily only accessible via the Internet?).

I guess none of that applies anymore. The nannying stint is long over, and I'm on to new and very different things. I just haven't had the time or inclination to find or make an avatar to reflect that fact. I'm probably giving off an outdated impression all over the web for all those long-lost friends from elementary school to see. Maybe it's time for an update. Thanks, My Life is Pictures!

You want to say this photo represents something about you immediately. But wait. Two months. The light off the mirror, some lost night where story began, simple burn in heart center following bliss, the resting of souls. Can I use that word? Say yes, life washing over us, carving the delectable vowel in home.

I (the angry little girl in the photo) chose this picture for my profile because my mother-in-law hates it. She thinks it's proof that I'm an angry person, when really all it proves is that sometimes little kids think about mother-in-laws.

A few weeks ago I was invited to help out with a honey harvest; we gathered about 30 gallons from 5 hives. I fell in love with the whole process: the humming sound of the bees, their percussive thumping as they dive-bombed my suit, the smell of the smoke used to calm them, the heft of the honey-filled combs. As I raised their sequestered sweetness back into the light and dumped it into 5 gallon buckets, I felt the collective intelligence of the hive perceive me. It was very, very cool to interact so intimately

with a non-human intelligence. My profile pic announces my thievery, invites engagement from the swarm of the internet.

this picture was taken just earlier this month at juno beach in normandy, france. it looks beautiful and peaceful now, but i can assure you that the intensity and electricity in the air is very potent from the moment you get there. the ground is completely littered with destroyed bunkers and (now grass-covered) craters and divots, where thousands of grenades and explosives went off on D DAY. it really tugs at your humanity when you see a site where tens of thousands died for a cause that was so important and crucial to the world. when i was there, i found a quiet spot on the hills, with a bird's eye view of the beach below and the vast ocean beyond. i swear i could almost smell the cordite in the air, and see the blood in the water. it's a strange feeling to feel such pride for your country, yet feel such anxiety and sadness for all the people that died there- so many weren't even trained soldiers. i can't imagine the fear of a young german soldier looking out on the ocean from inside a bunker, and seeing a massive armada coming for you. and i can't imagine the fear of a young american soldier, standing against the gate of an assault boat without being able to see until the last second, when the gate swings down, leading to your near-certain death. some already had courage, some had to muster it, and some never found it. this is a picture of the most humbling day of my life.

This is an old picture of my family and most people will not be able to pick me out (I'm the seven year old kid with big glasses), and that's fine: for I chose it because I was tired of looking at my own face. But now, writing this, I realize the picture speaks of family, unity, reunions, love, and good times. It also speaks of changes. It was shot on film (scanned) and the clothes and hairstyles are of the early eighties. It's a very personal picture. I look at it and know some of the stories of the uncles, aunts, cousins, parents, and grandparents in it. The viewer -- knowing what I should feel like -- is prompted to wonder about his own "connections" with the people of a past stage of his life. Very similar to that good old trick of showing you black and white family pictures at the star of a film.

My profile picture doesn't reveal my face or body. In that regard it's a bit evasive, and fits, I think, into a genre of profile images (the inverse of the glamor shot profile pic?). This selection demonstrates that I go blacklight bowling, and that I enjoy it sufficiently to let it define me, at least temporarily. I am self-centered or shy enough to photograph my own feet. I find glowing objects aesthetically appealing. I think that shoes can represent personality. I like that when we go to the bowling alley, we all put on the same shoes, and consent to be in some way equal. Yes, these are my feet, but they could be anyone's feet. When I get tired of my face, or deciding which rendition of my face to post for the social networkers, it is a relief to turn to this type of image--simple but evocative, mine but anonymous.

My profile photo says irony because I'm being, like, 2x American. People laugh at the photo and make witty comments about the number of flag-related things I'm wearing but really it's my way of saying I'm a flag waving American. I'm a flag wearing American, dammit. Ironic, because I'm a foreigner and cultural critic of the U.S., but sometimes a pig lies down in the mud for a bit. Also, if I ever try to get permanent residency, I'm totally going to facebook my INS agent and get, like, 5 more points for the residency criteria, for sure.

I guess I chose it because it is a good representation of what I really look like. Oh no, now that I think about it, maybe I've broken all social networking photo rules. I knew I should have taken one that was a close up of my face from an odd angle with a fish eye lens that doesn't even look like me, makes me appear 40 pounds lighter, with my hair in one eye and a sexy expression on my face as if I wasn't aware there was even a photo being taken (even though I turned the camera toward myself to take it).

my profile pic says i like to drink beer, watch south park (squinting), and sneer. i sometimes were a dog nose, have orange hair, and like to wear scratchy wool pants. mostly this is penance for things i do after drinking lots of beer. this is also not really me, but an animated representation of me i created so it's like really fucking postmodern because this is not just the self-image i am portraying to the social networking community, but the self-image i created using an existing template complete with its own independent associations, then pawned off as some authentic representation of who i am. it's also not really me because i don't want you to know what i look like because i think you're a douche for looking at my facebook page. so fuck you. i'm going to go drink more beer. roof roof.

This is me and Em, just after picking blueberries. The picture says, yes: I wear these kinds of hats. Yes: I like to pick blueberries. It says yes: this is my wonderful partner. It says every positive thing I can think about myself, about my life. There is no bad in this world. It says: where I am, here, in this picture--I am proud of everything.