Cell phone cameras have democratized self-portraiture. Selfies are pictures you take of yourself tagged with #selfie or just with #me. They are showing up all across social networks like Facebook or Instagram. As the numbers and frequency of selfies increase, the phenomenon has garnered attention. In our globally connected 24/7 world, anything that gets attention, gets talked about. Some view these self-created self-portraits as proof of cultural—or at least generational—narcissism and moral decline. While others view them as a by-product of technology-enabled self-exploration. In ancient world many civilization had a rich history of portraiture, the Romans and Greeks had murals and sculptures of their great kings that continues to expand with technological innovations. Where once they were the province of the elite either in status or skill, cell phones and Instagram have democratized self-portraiture, making them less precious and more fun.
Since November 19, 2013 when Oxford Dictionaries announced selfie as “the international Word of the Year”[1] this hybrid phenomenon of vernacular photography and social media has created quite a bit of media hype. A selfie, according to Oxford Dictionaries, is “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smart phone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website.”[2] According to Jenna Wortham, technology reporter for The New York Times, “Selfies have become the catchall term for digital self-portraits abetted by the explosion of cellphone cameras and photo-editing and sharing services. Every major social media site is overflowing with millions of them.
Humans have long demonstrated an interest in self-exploration. From early Greeks to present day, people have used self-study and self-observation to explore identity and sense of self. Trying to figure out who we are and what we’re about is a distinctly human pursuit for almost everyone. It’s not a big leap to go from a pursuit of self-exploration to the desire for self-portrait. As far back as Ancient Egypt, people of wealth and power have commissioned self-portraits, although less for self-exploration than glorification. Nevertheless, a number of technological breakthroughs throughout history have continued to lower the barriers to the creation and display of self-portraits.
Selfies are the new digital mirror. We take mirror for granted, but their invention in the 15th century let artists paint themselves which some, like Albrecht Durer, did with gusto. The camera in the 1860s launched a new era of selfies, but the technology demanded skill and expense. As the camera evolved, more and increasingly creative versions of self-portraiture appeared. Digital cameras freed portraiture from the cost and time lag of film. Then mobile phones became cameras, too. By 2012, 86% of the population of the US had a cell phone, lagging behind a host of countries like the UK, Italy, Spain and China.
Selfies facilitate self and identity exploration. One of the most effective ways to know yourself is to see yourself as others see you. Selfies offer the opportunities to show facets of yourself, such as the arty side, the silly side, or the glamorous side. By offering different aspects through images, we are sharing more of ourselves, becoming more authentic and transparent—things that digital connectivity encourages. Selfies have been called “a symptom of social media-driven narcissism,”[3] a “way to control others’ images of us,”[4] a “new way not only of representing ourselves to others, but of communicating with one another through images,”[5] “the masturbation of self-image”[6] and a “virtual “mini-me,” what in ancient biology might have been called a “homunculus” – a tiny pre-formed person that would grow into the big self.”[7]
[1] “Language research conducted by Oxford Dictionaries editors reveals that the frequency of the word selfie in the English language has increased by 17,000% since this time last year.” http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/press-releases/oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-2013/
[2] http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/press-releases/oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-2013/ See also Wikipedia entry on the selfie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfie
[3] www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/10459115/Australian-man-invented-the-selfie-after-drunken-night-out.html
[4] http://blog.oup.com/2013/11/scholarly-reflections-on-the-selfie-woty-2013/
[5] Rawlings, Kandice. “Selfies and the History of Self-Portrait Photography.” Oxford University Press Blog, November 21, 2013. http://blog.oup.com/2013/11/selfies-history-self-portrait-photography/
[6] Marche, “Sorry, Your Selfie Isn’t Art.”
[7] Clark, “Me, My Selfie and I.”