Overview:
Ever since Suicide Girls hit the big time, there have been dozens upon dozens of imitators. Murder Lily, God's Girls and, to a degree, Burning Angel all exhibit stark similarities to the trailblazing Suicide Girls site and community. From the looks of things, I Shot Myself is one site that has taken the risqué alt.porn flag and planted it firmly on their little patch of cyberspace. I Shot Myself is quite an alarming name, really. Did these gals go one step further than the Suicide Girls and actually follow through on what appeared to be desperate pleas for attention masquerading as empty threats of self-harm? Let's hope not, because the girls on this site sure look both hot and reasonably attainable. I'd hate to miss the chance to tap one of these asses, virtually or practically.

The I Shot Myself tour page, when carefully examined, clarifies a few things. First of all, the girls haven't offed themselves in a fit of depression and anxiety; secondly, the title of the site refers not to any suicidal tendencies on the part of the models, just their photographic style. You see, the only photographers on I Shot Myself are the models themselves. Confused? Well why not check out the social networking profile of any girl or young woman for an example. The much lampooned "MySpace Shot" (camera held high to maximize perceived cleavage and minimize perceived fatness) is now so ubiquitous that it's starting to pop up in your beloved Aunt Deidre's holiday snapshots. Thankfully, there are lots of women far more attractive than Aunt Deidre who have adopted this style of photographing themselves. The "MySpace Shot" isn't alone in being instantly recognizable; there is also the supersmiley flirty party girl shot (peace sign is optional), the couple shot (guy/girl or girl/girl kissing while holding the camera a short distance from their faces) and the mirror shot, in which you get a decent look at the body of the model/photographer. Now that we've covered the basics of erotic self-photography, let's find out what I Shot Myself offers that can't be found on MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, Xanga, LiveJournal, Bebo, EggFly, or even on the flirtier profiles at Your Christian Space and MyPraize.

On the site, you'll see the phrase "Project_ISM" thrown around quite a lot; there's nobody better to explain just what that is than the webmasters themselves. "Project_ISM is an erotic, web-based, self-portraiture project, where women from around the world submit a series of digital photographs that they have shot of themselves naked. The resulting collection of images is a celebration of the diversity of women - physically, artistically and psychologically. The only rules we have is that the photo MUST be taken by the artist herself, using a body part (either a hand or a foot) on the camera, and they have to be naked. We invite contributions from women of all ages, countries, shapes and sizes." Sounds like an interesting social experiment, doesn't it? Hah! Let's see some hotties already!

Once logged in to the site's members' area, you'll be greeted by a modern design and layout that packs a hell of a lot of information into every page. For example, here's a quick list of everything featured on the main members' page: main menu bar, time, date, membership details and log out button, notice telling you how long until your account expires, new and upcoming galleries, complete with countdown tickers, total number of models (artists), folios (galleries), images, and videos hosted on the site, results of the ISM art contest, a featured profile with Q&A, website news, the most recent message board posts, the free daily image, recommended websites, the editor's gallery pick and the ISM shop. Quite a lot to get through, that's for sure.

Clicking on the Folios link located in the main menu bar will open up a list of each and every gallery currently on the site. With over 3000 to choose from, this might be quite a daunting task but you'll be glad you looked through all 165 pages, even if it takes you a couple of visits. The women shown on I Shot Myself don't really fit any stereotypical porn image, instead giving you a look at what "real" women look like. They're natural beauties, some more so than others, of course, and the only thing they share is a love of expressing their sexuality. Really, this site is so dense that I could be here for hours on end, talking about everything that the site holds, in great detail. That, however, would leave me dying from starvation and unable to check my MySpace page. You don't want that now, do you?

When checking out the list of folios, you'll notice that either a still camera icon or a video camera icon accompanies each one. That is, unfortunately, the only way to differentiate between photo sets and video scenes. It'd be nice to have a listing of only the videos, but it's still pretty easy to figure out. The images reach an average resolution of 768x1024 pixels and generally look very, very good. Occasionally, you'll find one artist/model that tries to be too artistically expressive but can't quite manage it, leaving her pics look amateur in the worst sense of the word. Most of the image sets do look very good and should please most fans of amateur or homegrown softcore porn.

Videos are made available in streaming MPG and WMV, you're also given the option of downloading a Zip file that contains the MPG. The resolution of these movies is a little lacking and could certainly be higher. There's a distinct lack of clarity and vibrancy in the images. Most videos show behind the scenes footage from one of the photo shoots but you'll also occasionally find a girl that shoots video of herself just for the fun of it. These are definitely more interesting to watch and, again, lean heavily on that amateurish aesthetic so heavily favored by "real" women.

The rest of the site is filled with model/artist profiles, a thriving message board community, and various supplementary user options that help to create a very welcoming feel to the place. There's not much that could be added to I Shot Myself; really, there just needs to be some tweaking here and there. Membership is available for $24.95 for one month of unlimited access and $49.95 for 90 days. Need something that's always inexpensive and never disappointing? You're in the right place. Here comes the final judgment!

Pros:
- All of the content on I Shot Myself is 100% exclusive and won't be found on any other sites.

- The women featured here are real, homegrown amateurs.

- The self-photography makes for some truly interesting and personal shots.

- I Shot Myself has a number of great user-end features that will make you feel very involved and welcome at the site.

- Updates arrive at least 11 times per week. Whoa!

Cons:
- The vast majority of the content is softcore, which is somewhat disappointing.

- There may be over 300 videos but when compared to the thousands of photo sets, it doesn't seem like nearly enough.

- Videos, for the most part, are fairly boring, mostly showing behind the scenes footage.

Conclusion:
While I absolutely adore the concept behind I Shot Myself and think it makes for some very interesting erotic photography, there could stand to be a few improvements made to the site. The quality tends to range from barely acceptable to brilliant and it'd be nice to see that evened out. Updates are made every day and bring a lot of new content to the already expansive archive, but it'd be great to see more videos added in the near future. If you're after true amateur girls, though, it's hard to pass up such a unique and exciting site.