Seeing Ourselves in the Studio: Exploring Identity, Representation & the Many Ways We See
What happens when children are invited to look closely at themselves?
This question became the beginning of our first Studio research with the Loggerheads and Sea Stars. Rather than introducing a predetermined “self-portrait project,” we created an environment filled with possibilities: photographs of the children and their friends, mirrors, paper, black Flair pens, oil pastels, light, shadows, and open space for movement and exploration.
We wondered what the children would notice, what they would choose to represent, and what might happen when they encountered themselves in different ways.
And, as is often the case in Studio, the children showed us that the possibilities were much bigger than simply drawing a face.
Encountering Ourselves
As children entered the Studio, they immediately noticed photographs of themselves and their classmates. Some recognized themselves right away. Others searched for friends. Some carried their photographs around the room, while others placed them beside their drawings.
In the light and shadow area, photographs were projected onto the wall, creating an entirely different way to encounter familiar images. Children moved through the projected photographs, danced in front of them, watched their shadows, and even stood in front of a friend's photograph pretending to be that person.
One child excitedly announced, “I found two of me!”
Another carefully placed her photograph beside her drawing and observed, “Oh, that's me. I'm just gonna put that with my picture.”
The photograph became more than a picture. It became something to notice, hold, compare, collect, and think about.
A Name Can Represent Me, Too
One of the most unexpected threads to emerge was the children's interest in their names.
At the drawing table, several children immediately began writing or practicing their names. They watched the letters, experimented with how to form them, and proudly identified their writing as their own.
Their names became another language for representing themselves.
This made us wonder: What makes something represent “me”? Is it my face? My name? My photograph? My body? My ideas? The people I love?
Looking Closely
Mirrors offered another invitation: to slow down and really look.
One child began drawing herself after watching a teacher create a self-portrait while looking carefully into a mirror. She became curious about the details of the teacher's eyes and asked, “How did you make your eyes look like that?”
After watching this process, she chose a new piece of paper and began again.
This time, she looked closely at her own reflection and paid attention to her eyebrows, eyes, pupils, hair, clothing, and other details she noticed.
This moment reminded us that observation changes representation.
When children are given time and tools to look closely, they begin to notice things they may not have considered before. They also begin making decisions about which details matter to them.
There Isn't Just One Way to Represent Ourselves
Not every child was interested in creating a recognizable self-portrait — and that was important.
One child experimented with lines and patterns, creating what she called a “spider web LOGO stick.” Another filled an entire page with oil pastels, experimenting with pressure and color and proudly declaring, “I'm drawing this for my grandma. Look how dark this is!”
Another child drew her whole body and included her special “Elsa shoes.”
One child drew a simple face, looked at it, and confidently announced, “I'm done.”
Each representation was different because each child was communicating something different.
This is one of the beautiful things we see in a Reggio-inspired environment: we don't need every child to create the same thing for meaningful learning to occur.
The materials, marks, movements, stories, symbols, photographs, names, and ideas children choose can all become languages for communicating their thinking.
Identity Is More Than a Self-Portrait
As the children explored, identity began appearing in places we hadn't necessarily anticipated.
It appeared in photographs and mirrors.
It appeared in names and drawings.
It appeared in friendships and family.
It appeared through movement, imagination, light and shadow.
And for some children, identity even began to take shape through ideas about who they might become.
Two children began talking about their futures — imagining themselves as firefighters, police officers, surfers, and boogie boarders. They imagined working together and becoming part of a community.
Their conversation reminded us that identity isn't only about who we are right now. Children are also constantly imagining who they might become.
What We Are Wondering Now
Our first Studio experiences have left us with many questions.
What makes something feel like “me”?
How do children recognize themselves in photographs?
What is the difference between ourselves and a picture of ourselves?
How do names, symbols, movement, materials, and images communicate identity?
Who are the people children choose to represent, and what does that tell us about relationships and belonging?
What happens when children revisit an earlier representation of themselves?
And perhaps most importantly:
Can we resist defining what a “self-portrait” should look like and instead allow children to show us what self-representation means to them?
For now, we are listening.
We will continue offering photographs, mirrors, drawing materials, light, shadow, movement, and open-ended opportunities for representation — not because we already know where the investigation will go, but because we want to discover where the children will take us.
This is the heart of emergent curriculum: beginning with what children show us, listening carefully, and allowing their questions, interests, and discoveries to shape what comes next.
We can't wait to see where this research leads.
-Kelsey LaSance
Atelierista/Studio Teacher