What is a Selfie
A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. But a selfie can be whatever you want it to be .It can involve any elements and people and and objects. That's why a selfie is original because never selfie is different . Such as the quality the textures the colours and everything else. A selfie to me is a picture of yourself and I take approximately 1-2 pictures a month . But I usually just delete them after. Selfies are different for each person because some people try and make themselves look as pretty as possible but for others its different. The whole selfie idea is a personal opinion. A selfie hasn't got any exact rules but if you want a good selfie you need to have an entertaining background , good lighting and a perfect angle. All these components will make a good selfie. UCL made a video about how to two countries Italy and England compare with the art of a selfie and England they talk about the 3 types of selfies the goofy one , the serious one and the group one . This was very interesting because in contrasting countries such as Italy they don't have as much care as England. Italy mostly take group selfies or non at all .
The History of the Selfies
In 1839, Robert Cornelius, an American pioneer in photography, produced a daguerreotype of himself which ended up as one of the first photographs of a person. Because the process was slow, he was able to uncover the lens, run into the shot for a minute or more, and then replace the lens cap. He recorded on the back "The first light picture ever taken. 1839." A copy of his "first selfie" graces his tombstone at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As you can see the selfie isn't very good quality and is dirty and you can hardly see the male in the selfies and its black and white .Times have changed nowadays .
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Selfies in the Present Day
Now a days a selfies is a normal thing that everyone has done in their life time . It is estimated that 92 million selfies are taken each day which is mind boggling because the numbers are still going to continue rising each day . Even the word selfies was added to the dictionary in November 2013 . So as you can see its been emerged into are normal every day life . All the examples below are very good quality with multiple colours and this is because are technology has improved and most people today have a mobile phone that we can carry around easily . Back then it would take time to set the camera up then printing it took double that and it wasn't portable at all .
Analysing Selfies
1) This image is of a war veteran who lost his limbs in Afghanistan from a land mine . Photo taken by Giles Duley 2011
What was your first impression?
My first impressions of this image is its very different because you don't really have a full image picture of someone and the picture being black and white. It gives the image a dark side toward it .
Have you seen an image like this before?
No, I have never seen an image like this. Elements in the image I have seen such as a full body selfie and it being in black and white .But this selfie isn't what it seems it has a hidden meaning behind it .
What strikes you as unusual or different about the image?
This image is unusual because we have no back story behind the image and we ask questions about the images meaning .I have never seen an
image like this before.
What does the image remind you of ?
This image reminds of a documentary about a war veteran who has lost his limbs from war .This documentary reminds me of him documented about his life after and how he has adjusted his life and how he achieved his goals in life .
How did the photographer take the image if it is a self portrait?
This image is a selfie that shows his full body . This image gives you a full view of the room and it shows us the room is really basic and has nothing inside apart from him and the stool. This could give the viewers a pitiful side and shows that this man is struggling but also confident because he has a high posture.
What does the photograph communicate to you?
This communicates the viewers that the image is meant to make us feel empathetic for the man but really he is confident about his body and his image . That is why this image juxtaposes each other.
2) A Drowned Man by J Paul Getty
What was your first impression?
My first impression was confusion because the image is quite hard to pick out what's happening here and if this image is a painting or a photo taken by a camera .
Have you seen an image like this before?
Absolutely not! This image is original to my eyes and have never seen anything like this . This image shows us a new perspective toward the image and what happens if you are buried underground.
What strikes you as unusual or different about the image?
This image is strange because its a new consept and has a dark side to it because it has practically no light . The dark side towards this image is that
What does the image remind you of?
It reminds me of a man that has been buried underground and is now decomposing into the soil below .This additionally reminds me of how a man has been buried bin a coffin but wasn't actually dead and is now living underground in his new home .
How did the photographer take the image if it is a self portrait?
This photographer took the image from a neutral position and and its underground .This perspective is completely original and is a new developing idea that no one has experimented or tested .
What does the photograph communicate to you?
This communicates what life would be like is we had limited light and low underground . I also think that this was meant to be original and I think he wanted to make the man and space claustrophobic to the audience.
What was your first impression?
My first impressions of this image is its very different because you don't really have a full image picture of someone and the picture being black and white. It gives the image a dark side toward it .
Have you seen an image like this before?
No, I have never seen an image like this. Elements in the image I have seen such as a full body selfie and it being in black and white .But this selfie isn't what it seems it has a hidden meaning behind it .
What strikes you as unusual or different about the image?
This image is unusual because we have no back story behind the image and we ask questions about the images meaning .I have never seen an
image like this before.
What does the image remind you of ?
This image reminds of a documentary about a war veteran who has lost his limbs from war .This documentary reminds me of him documented about his life after and how he has adjusted his life and how he achieved his goals in life .
How did the photographer take the image if it is a self portrait?
This image is a selfie that shows his full body . This image gives you a full view of the room and it shows us the room is really basic and has nothing inside apart from him and the stool. This could give the viewers a pitiful side and shows that this man is struggling but also confident because he has a high posture.
What does the photograph communicate to you?
This communicates the viewers that the image is meant to make us feel empathetic for the man but really he is confident about his body and his image . That is why this image juxtaposes each other.
2) A Drowned Man by J Paul Getty
What was your first impression?
My first impression was confusion because the image is quite hard to pick out what's happening here and if this image is a painting or a photo taken by a camera .
Have you seen an image like this before?
Absolutely not! This image is original to my eyes and have never seen anything like this . This image shows us a new perspective toward the image and what happens if you are buried underground.
What strikes you as unusual or different about the image?
This image is strange because its a new consept and has a dark side to it because it has practically no light . The dark side towards this image is that
What does the image remind you of?
It reminds me of a man that has been buried underground and is now decomposing into the soil below .This additionally reminds me of how a man has been buried bin a coffin but wasn't actually dead and is now living underground in his new home .
How did the photographer take the image if it is a self portrait?
This photographer took the image from a neutral position and and its underground .This perspective is completely original and is a new developing idea that no one has experimented or tested .
What does the photograph communicate to you?
This communicates what life would be like is we had limited light and low underground . I also think that this was meant to be original and I think he wanted to make the man and space claustrophobic to the audience.
This selfie was a selfie we took with my friends and we asked him if he would be in it and he was unsure the purpose of the selfie and he wasn't really into it but as I started to convince him that it was for photography and he doesn't have to show his face . Thats why he only has his eyes shown and his hood up. This image also portrays a funny aspect toward the image and the real meaning was to laugh and make people happy that's why I'm making a face and that why I do it in most own my selfies of me . I always try and turn it into a joke then making it really serious . It also involves my friend Shoaib who is taking the photo and is taking it from a low angle and it makes us look more elevated in the image .
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Holger Nitschke
Holger Nitschke is a female photographer who explores the idea of taking a photo of a body from different unique angles.What impresses me about this is that it's all taken the same day and are all taken with the same clothes but all show unique angles . Holger is a German photographer and she even said "My passion is to frame people in a classy , stylish and timeless setting. In doing so I draw inspiration from music , fashion and photography from the last century ". I think the most significant because she focuses on the simple thing in a selfie , she's simple not complex . That's why I love her style unique, basic but most importantly its original .
Vivian Maier
Vivian Maier was an inspirational photographer who had a unique way of looking at a photograph. Vivian had a subtle way of making every photograph include her upper body even if it was centrally dominant or not. I particularly love the way that the majority of her photos are in black and white , this tells me that she uses a consistent way of taking photos . Vivian used many intriguing backgrounds and shadows to evoke a naturals component photo. Her photos are extremely mysterious and every photo holds a backstory . Every single photo you could talk about for hours on end and this is why I particularly enjoy looking and studying them .These photos all have a square frame and this was because she used a medium-format camera which made this interesting square photo. The photo graphs all have unnatural angles and she does it extremely conspicuously .