Introduction
The selfie is today's current obsession. It is a photographic portrait taken by millions every day. There is history behind the selfie, for example the first one was taken in 1839 by a man called Robert Cornelius. Selfie is also slang for self portrait. Selfies are usually taken on mobile phones, which have a front facing camera. Front facing cameras or phones and social media's popularity have made the posting of selfies increasingly popular as a way of photographic expression. I rarely take selfies because i believe they are pointless and a waste of time. I think selfies have become so popular because it is practical and easy to take them. The general rules of taking a selfie are lighting, angle ,people in the photo and the background. It is fine to break these rules depending on the type of photo you are taking. There are many different genres of selfies, for example self portraits are pictures that are photos that people draw of themselves. There are also different approaches when taking selfies, some are relaxed with little effort put in them while others are more focused on making yourself look better.
The Self-portrait
The Self-Portrait is an older version of the selfie. It is a piece of art usually creating the artist or person as the subject of the picture. Self portraits can be 2 or 3 dimensional. Self portraits were used in the "Renaissance period" as a way for artists to celebrate their own status and individuality.
Here is some of my own selfie attempts
I think these selfies are different to the other ones because of the colours. In the pictures below they are less colourful and more dull. Where as the pictures over this are vibrant with colour. This could tell us the mood of pictures 100 years ago and how it is very different to now.
My first impression of this photo was that it looked unsettling and creepy. I have never seen an image like this before. The image is unusual because the man in it is half naked and its in black and white. The image reminds me of photos that were taken when cameras were first made, maybe 100 years ago. The method the photographer used required long exposure and the person in the photos eyes to be closed. The person in the photo is dead and had drowned himself.
My first impression of the photo is how long ago was it taken. I have seen images like this before because of the old camera. The thing different about the image is that it is taken in the back of a car and that makes me ask if the car was moving at the time. The image reminds me of mirror pictures , when you take a selfie using the mirror. I think the photographer used a mirror to take the picture. The photographer communicates how you could take a selfie or self portrait at the time.
Taking selfies with filters
Vivian Maier
Vivian Maier is a female photographer. She has a unique style of taking photos. She uses a medium format camera and has it by her waist when she takes the pictures. Many of her pictures involve her shadow, and are in black and white. Vivian mastered taking quick and random photos. For example, she would take pictures of herself in mirrors. These pictures are often aimed to be subtle because she rarely placed herself in the center dominant eye. She was usually placed in the corners of the photo. Some of the shadows were deliberately positioned in certain places, for example in some photos she directed her shadow onto film posters. I like her style of artwork because she was able to capture the moment perfectly using skills like patience. I also like the fact that she did not make the main subject of the photo herself but in fact disguising herself in the foreground or the background. Many of Vivian maiers photos have been unknown up until recently as she made herself mysteriously unknown to the public by hiding her work away in her attic.
My Photographs
Francesca Woodman
I believe Francesca Woodman's photos are in square format because of the camera she used to take them. In her images I see distorted versions of herself, mostly in the air. Only herself is in the images, no one else is intended to be in them. These images fall into the category of self portrait because Woodman has included herself somewhere in the image. The camera is placed in a way so she is not in the centre of the picture , avoiding being the centre dominant eye. She used a timer on the camera to take the photos , often making a form of movement with her body to distort herself. Some of her images make me feel uneasy or uncomfortable because most of them have been taken in abandoned buildings. She also stands or poses in an unsettling way while the pictures have a black and white filter put over them. The objects are placed somewhere around her , for example chairs , cutlery etc. Light from the pictures mostly comes from windows . The windows lose detail because the light/whites are overexposed. The light is natural. The most interesting part of these images is the almost disturbing mood. The motion in the photos makes her seem ghost like as you are unable to recognise her face. The image I like the most is the one where she hangs from a doorframe. The distortion makes it seem so unnatural and ghost-like. I think she created this image by setting a timer on the camera and then jumping in front of the door to make it seem like she is hanging there. She has put a chair next to her with a piece of clothing on it. I would use similar props if I were to re create this image.
Distorted images
Evaluation
This photo was imaginative because I used similar movement like Francesca Woodman the create it. This photo reminds of the doorframe picture Francesca Woodman took. I took the risk of moving in this way to create the image as it could not have turned out as i expected. It felt strange to create a photo like this as it was different from the others i have taken.
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