conceptual & experimental self-portraiture · sabinefey
Self-Portrait Photographer & Visual Artist
Self-portraiture as constructed emotion, shaped through light, color, and controlled experimentation. Under the artist name sabinefey, I use self-portrait photography to build atmospheres: part diary, part design, part visual research.
The Artist Behind sabinefey
Sabine Fischer (sabinefey) is a Germany-based self-portrait photographer and visual artist, working at the intersection of conceptual photography, graphic design, and experimental lighting. With over 20 years of experience across creative fields, her artistic work focuses on self-portraiture as a method: staging, testing, refining. Until an image carries the emotional weight it was built for.
Rather than aiming for realism, sabinefey explores how identity can be constructed through photographic choices: contrast, silhouette, color tension, and deliberate limitation. Many of the series begin with a single question: about presence, vulnerability, control, or transformation and are then translated into light setups and visual symbols.
Driven by a passion for visual experimentation, she frequently incorporates tools and effects such as projectors, dynamic lighting setups, smoke and wind machines, body painting, blacklight, mirrors, prisms, and textured surfaces. These elements are not decoration; they expand the visual language of each composition and allow emotion to become visible: precise, cinematic, and sometimes unsettling in the best way.
Aesthetic Approach & Tools
Entering sabinefey’s work means stepping into a world shaped by striking contrasts: darkness against luminous highlights, saturated color against silence, control against raw feeling. Some images read as dramatic, abstract or mythic, others as quiet or melancholic but interpretation is intentionally left open. The photographs don’t insist on one narrative, they invite projection.
At the core is a consistent approach: self-portrait photography as authorship. The camera becomes a mirror only after it has become a construction site where pose, timing, distance, and light are rehearsed until the image feels inevitable.
Equipment / tools: Sabine primarily works with the Nikon D850 and Nikon D750, often using the Sigma 50mm & 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lenses. Lighting typically includes (depending on the concept): Nanlite Pavotube, Yongnuo LED lights, Spotlight, Projector/Beamer, Daylight Softbox, Blacklight & Fiber Optic Lamp.
Selected works from 2020 to 2025.
Step into the sabinefey experience – a behind-the-scenes look into conceptual self-portrait photography, artistic experimentation, and immersive visual storytelling.
This section showcases a curated selection of video compilations that offer a deeper look into Sabine’s unique creative process.
Each of the four videos opens a window into a distinct aspect of her work: conceptual self-portraits, behind-the-scenes moments, visual experiments, and video art. When you click on a video, you’ll discover a series of short clips – each one an intimate glimpse into her evolving visual universe:
More than just documentation, these behind-the-scenes videos are carefully crafted experiences, set to handpicked music and edited with the same artistic attention as the final images. They reflect what followers of sabinefey on Instagram already know: that the process is at least as interesting as the final results.
Portfolio
Self-Portrait Photography as Artistic Practice (sabinefey)
Self-portrait photography is often misunderstood as self-documentation. In my work as sabinefey, it is closer to authorship: each image is constructed rather than captured. A deliberate composition where light, timing, and limitation translate inner states into visual form. As a self portrait photographer, I approach every image as a built environment. The camera becomes a mirror only after the structure of the image has been defined.
Self portrait photography, for me, is not about recording appearance. It is a conceptual practice, staging, testing, refining, until the image carries the emotional weight it was designed to hold. What appears intuitive is usually the result of controlled experimentation.
Why Self-Portraits Matter: Identity, Control, and Experimentation
For a self portrait photographer, subject and author exist in the same body. A self-portrait compresses roles: subject, director, and editor operate simultaneously. That tension is intentional. Control creates clarity; vulnerability creates charge.
Self portrait photography allows identity to be constructed rather than simply revealed. Through contrast, silhouette, color tension, and deliberate limitation, emotional states are translated into visual decisions. The work lives in the space between honesty and design where a gesture feels instinctive, yet the structure behind it is precise.
From Painting to Photography (A Short Context, Not a Lecture)
Artists have used self-portraiture for centuries to study light, anatomy, and identity. Photography changed the method: Instead of brushstrokes, decisions happen through exposure, distance, contrast, and the choreography of light and body.
The evolution from painted self-portraits to contemporary self portrait photography established the foundation for the modern self portrait photographer. An artist who uses the camera as a tool for conceptual and emotional construction.
What remains constant is intention: the use of one’s own image as a field of inquiry and experimentation.
Light as Structure: How Images Are Built
In many series, the decisive element is the light logic: silhouette versus detail, saturated color versus shadow, hard edges versus diffusion. Technical choices are aesthetic choices.
For a self portrait photographer, light defines authorship. Focal length, shutter timing, and contrast are not neutral settings; they determine atmosphere and narrative structure. The goal is coherence: an image that feels inevitable.
Self portrait photography becomes a process of building visual tension: balancing control and spontaneity, structure and emotion, precision and rawness.
What Defines a Contemporary Self Portrait Photographer?
A contemporary self portrait photographer works at the intersection of concept, performance, and visual design. Self portrait photography today is no longer limited to documentation; it operates as artistic practice, visual experimentation, and narrative construction.
Conceptual self portrait photography explores identity through deliberate staging using light, color, texture, and spatial tension as expressive tools. Unlike traditional portrait photography, where the subject is external, artistic self portrait photography transforms the photographer into both observer and observed.
In my work as sabinefey, self portrait photography becomes an ongoing artistic inquiry. Acontinuous exploration of presence, transformation, and authorship. Each image exists as part of a broader visual research process rather than as a single isolated frame.
Sabine Fischer / sabinefey
Discover new self portrait photography projects, behind-the-scenes insights, and visual experiments. Selected works are available as limited edition fine art prints. For collaborations, exhibitions, interviews, or creative exchange, feel free to get in touch: hello@phoenixstudios.de