In the Sunday Review of The New York Times, I found a piece by Jenna Wortham about the phenomenon of selfies, the media-tech update of the artistic convention of the self-portrait. At one point, rather in passing, the article seems to suggest an understanding of the cultural significance of the selfie that challenges my own reductive, uninformed, and anything but ingenious Sunday morning sermon on how certain online platforms that are geared to visual presentations of the self are about our narcissism, about presenting ourselves to our peers, and about those infamous fifteen minutes of fame; or how these platforms are about staging our selves and our in-group as distinct by linking to and exposing others who are stupid enough to fall for that fifteen minutes of fame thing. Turns out selfies may be about something else, too. While they are about the wish to leave a mark of one’s existence (still an interestingly persistent thought in these fleeting digital times) and about one’s face (selfies are visual, after all), they are not just about face-work but also, and quite simply, about one’s facial self being somewhere and doing something ordinary and sharing it \u2013 Wortham suggests the phrase „visual diary“ at the end of her article.
\nBelow is the excerpt that caught my attention. It contains the wonderfully rich phrase of turning one’s camera inward on one’s self and it starts with a quote from Dom Hofmann, co-creator of the video clip app Vine:
\n„‚It wasn\u2019t really about vanity at all,“ he said. „It\u2019s not really about how you look. It\u2019s about you doing something else, or you in other places. It\u2019s a more personal way to share an experience.‘
\nThe feedback loop that selfies can inspire doesn\u2019t hurt, either. As an early Instagram user, I rarely turned the camera on myself. I preferred sharing pictures of sunsets, crazy dance parties and bodega cats to showing off a new haircut or outfit. But over the last year or so, I\u2019ve watched as all my peers slowly began turning their cameras inward on themselves. It\u2019s made my feed more interesting and entertaining. And I\u2019d much rather see my friends\u2019 faces as they prepare food than a close-up photo of the finished meals instead. The rare occasion when I feel bold enough to post a full-face frontal, I see spikes in comments and feedback, the kind that pictures of a park or a concert photo rarely get.“<\/p>\n
Here is the link to the full article:
\nhttps:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2013\/10\/20\/sunday-review\/my-selfie-myself.html?hp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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