Var 0: Top row left -- the "normal" self-portrait 3x3
Var 1:Top row middle -- high-contrast "hard" image using levels or curves to remove middle tonal values. Blow-out the midtones.
Var 2: Top row right -- soft, desaturated, Gaussian-blurred variation (again, using levels/curves adjustments, etc). Prefer that you use Curves and understand how they work.
Var3: Second row left -- Modified grayscale image; at least 3 choices: a) true grayscale (convert form RGB to grayscale) tonally adjusted to bring out crispness and tonal balance. b) use black/white adjustment to produce good black & white image from the color portrait. or c) colorized grayscale -- converting from RGB to grayscale to Indexed mode and replacing 256 steps of gray with colors from the color table.
Var 4: Second row right -- Duotone; convert RGB to grayscale, then to Duotone; replace black and white with Pantone colors
Var 5: Third row left -- major color shift variation using various selections in combination with different color adjustment techniques: HSV sliders, curves, channels, replace color, photo filter, etc etc
on whole layer or selected target regions of image.
Var 6: Third row right -- change layer blending modes and/or opacity effects in portrait layer. Definitely works best if the background layer is filled with a vivid color, gradient, or with color paint patches, etc.
Var 7: Bottom row left -- distorted, wildly destructed image; can use multiple combinations of distortion filters, channel mixes, layer effects, curves, blending modes, liquify, etc . In other words, whatever gets you what you want (but don't totally destroy your image; still should be able to recognize the portrait.
Var 8: Bottom row middle -- silhoutted image. Use careful selection techniques to isolate your portrait profile from the surrounding area and fill it with solid color, gradient, noise, etc. Invert the selection and stroke and fill the surrounding area.
Var 9: Bottom row right-- create a custom pattern from a rectangular or square non-feathered selection (under Edit -- Define Pattern) and fill (Edit -- Fill -- Pattern -- choose pattern) the area surrounding your profile with it. Also, you can use the pattern brush to brush multiple patterns into the background.

Finish your composition by placing text in the remaining space. Use typographical principles and make the statement fit with your composition both objectively and subjectively. Say something interesting!

Optional: Balance your final composition by filling in some of the white or less interesting backgrounds in some variations with various colored and textured surrounds. Use coordinated solid colors, gradients, patterns, distortion filters, etc etc. Try to harmonize and unify the entire work.