Self-Portrait: Green Card Photograph Specifications

This self-portrait is inspired in the strict guidelines of the photographs required for the US immigration visas and green card[1. Here’s an extract of the: Green Card Application Photograph And Head Size Specifications

Your photo is a vital part of your Green Card application. You must submit two identical color photographs of yourself taken within the last 6 months of the filing of this application. The image must be in the Joint Photographic Experts Group format. The face must be square to the camera with a neutral expression, neither frowning nor smiling, with the mouth closed. To learn more, review the guidelines on how to provide a suitable photo. Please be advised that Failure to comply with any of the following requirements may result in disqualification.”

]. I remember reading the instructions and obsessing over them when I was first applying for the green card lottery years ago.

The design is based on the actual template that the US government has on their website.

I added a few more guides to the original. All my illustrations are heavily based on basic, geometric shapes, so the US guidelines were a perfect fit. At some point I even thought about doing an extreme version of the template with dozens of guides to reproduce the inner geometry of the self-portrait as it can be seen in the wireframe version:

Last night we had a show and this artwork was there, and so was I. Here is this (meta)photo to add to the list of different levels of representation and symbols of symbols.

January 16, 2016 ☼ art ☼ figurative ☼ geometry ☼ portrait ☼ vector