User:Mihail Bakalov/Trimester 4/READING, WRITING AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES/MediaObject
[Steve: why are selfies important to you?
make annotation of the texts you are using here, take the text out of the sketch status and write about your subject. 1st step - annotate the texts you have found and formulate an argument using those texts.]
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I find interesting the points were the selfie is used to depict personal experiences
in a very specific(new) way and create identity. What is the weight of someones personal opinion about him self being limitedly represented by his appearance in a photo. Also what kind of place in society do these images get and establish them selves. The performative aspect of the imaginary realm, presention of a wide extensiveness of activity in connection/comparison to the less and less content towards content of specific repetitive practices or serious pursuits.
DEFINITION OF SELFIES
A Selfie is a photograph taken of oneself, typically done with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. The pictures represent one's experiences usually promoting your self in a positive environment & attitude.
"A subversive form of self-expression that
narrates one's own view of desirability.
In this sense, selfies can be empowering
and offer a way of actively asserting agency."
[[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfie | wikipedia-selfie article]]
The selfie is a sub-category of the self-portrait,
which has being practised for a long time, but the
term was invented in the past 10 years.
The journal side of the selfie plays a huge role
in making it become so viral. Nowadays whenever a person, especially
a tourist sees something nice, he/she positions him/her
right in front of it and takes a picture.
"Narcissus, who after glimpsing his reflection in a pond,
falls so deeply in love with it he is unable to leave –
eventually perishing." Erin Cook
SELFIE USAGE AROSE WITHIN SOCIAL NETWORKS.
"In the future everyone will be famous for 15 min." Andy Warhol
The transmission of information nowadays helps spreading our own images, but also broadens our visual dictionary, because of the wide access to data. Although the gigantic amounts of info we are still facing template culture problems. The selfies has certain models which they follow,
The same way as many " users of blogs" do not conform to larger ideals but display a culture of " detached engagement" the same is happening to the social eruption of selfies. "Jodi Dean argues that a new form of " communicative capitalism" has emerged, where discourse proliferates but is completely devoid of genuine political potency. Finally, rather than foster new public engagements, online discussion tends to take place within " echo chambers " where groups of like-minded individuals, consciously or not, avoid debate with their cultural or political adversaries."
Networks without a cause - Geert Lovink
" Every girl with her own Wi-Fi connection can become the content, can become a new standard of beauty that is more diverse and flexible than ever before. "
Famous people use selfies as a way to bring them down to a normal persons status quo, on the same level, althout most selfies from celebrities are being digitally retouch, so they are directed towards a enhanced promotion(campaign) of their selves
We have moved from an internal oriented culture to an exterior, focused on presenting and marketing ourselves.
THE MOVING AWAY OF ANONYMITY - people create template images which differ only in content exluding the person in the picture. creating trends in certain behavour in front of the camera, making specific face mimics, behaviour and camera position.
THIS IS WHY I AM INTERESTED IN IT :
The new digital passport is our online social media profile and there we have our new ID photo, which are usually selfies.
COMPARISON BETWEEN SELF-PORTRAIT AND SELFIES
James Franco defends the self-portrait stating
they should not be seen as an egocentric act,
but instead a journalistic moment as it cultivates
a "visual culture, the selfie quickly and easily
shows, not tells, how you're feeling, where you
are, what you're doing", much like a
photojournalist image
PHOTOGRAPHIC ASPECT OF SELFIES
the vitriolic backlash stems from a fear of who
it is both in front of and behind the camera.
The aspects of photograph, isolating only one frame of reality,
taking out the past and the future out, thus creating another
meaning of the moment. It could be fake, manipulated or just
with a new meaning.
Structure the text
- to add what is it from the side of the person doing it - what it is from the viewers side - the merging of the performance - the closed bubbles of personal performances / endeavours
- put a timeline of the way portrait photography has gone through the years ( studio portrait - photobooth - selfie ) |also in relation to posing/performance|
READINGS
The Net Delusion - Evgeny Morozov
Open Magazine - issue 8 / 2005
Databaseness - Olga Goriunova
Networks without a cause - Geert Lovink