The Shadow Self: Empowering Through Self-Portraiture

Step into a workshop that transforms self-portraiture into a tool for emotional exploration and personal empowerment. Using mirrors, shadows, masks, and symbolic props, you create images that reveal hidden parts of yourself and express complex emotions. Photographer Sonia Goydenko leads guided exercises, journaling prompts, supportive group discussions, and image reviews help you process your inner world while developing your photographic voice. This new online workshop is perfect for photographers, artists, and seekers ready to explore vulnerability, reclaim agency, and turn emotion into art. 

Drawing inspiration from the work of Frida Kahlo, Lee Friedlander, Ximena Echague, Arthur Tress, Karl Baden, Cindy Sherman, and Sonia Goydenko’s Substack article, “Empowering Women Through Self-Portraiture,”  the workshop emphasizes agency, empowerment,  and reclaiming one’s own image while engaging deeply with inner experiences. 

During our four weeks of together, we—

• Create a series of self-portraits as a tool for emotional processing and personal insight.
• Develop techniques for expressive photography to explore vulnerability and reclaim agency through image-making. 
• Reflect on and process emotions through photographing and journaling. 
• Strengthen creative confidence and self-awareness in a supportive group environment. 
• Gain tools to continue using photography for emotional exploration beyond the workshop.

Join Sonia in an intimate online workshop environment for both creative growth and emotional insight using the self-portrait process.