Generally I’m not too keen on showing off photographs of myself. But back in March, while we were both at South by Southwest, Naz Hamid took a picture of me that I really like. It combines a few of my favorite memes: super-heroes, Helvetica and, well, me. And it has just enough kitsch value to present some modest appeal to readers here, I think, so I’m posting it.

The tee-shirt is from Lamosca, a terrific and prolific design studio in Barcelona, and it was brought back from Spain as a gift from my friend and colleague Pau Santesmasses.

Aside from my ugly mug, isn’t it a beautiful photo? There’s something intangibly lustrous about black and white; compare it to the color version and you’ll see that that the monochrome palette adds a layer of mystery to the whole image. Of course, take my advocacy of black and white with a grain of salt; I’m a little biased, after all.

Of course, the color space means nothing without an artist behind the lens. Credit goes to Naz’s formidable camera skills; you can see the other photographs from this series here. And if that’s not enough to convince you he’s got an uncommonly perceptive photographic eye, you can should take a look at the photo project that he and his fiancée, Jen Schuetz have over at The Busy Life. Beautiful stuff, and you don’t have to look at my face at all.