#MAKE A SELF PORTRAIT ONLINE SERIES#

My take: The selfie is a mode of conversation, inherently contextual and often ephemeral.

вЂњSelf-portraits cannot inherently be designated as art any more than doodles or markings on a page can.вЂќ вЂњMany people in the past and present have created self-portraits for reasons other than the purpose of art,вЂќ he reflected.

Agreeing, Arpad noted that вЂњselfies promote active discussion and responses that can be instantaneous and-more importantly-in the form of a selfie.вЂќ Is this conversational intimacy one reason why looking at strangersвЂ™ self-portraits rarely feels uncomfortable, while looking at strangersвЂ™ selfies often does? He questioned, however, whether self-portraits are always art. Selfies are thus less like documents than like speech, snippets of embodied language. We are allowed to leave these elements out of our reading of artistвЂ™s self-portraits.

#MAKE A SELF PORTRAIT ONLINE SERIES#

It is important to remember these images are shared as part of a conversation, a series of contextual interactions and are connected to the selfie-maker in an intimate, embodied and felt way. It is perilous to read selfies in the same way as art, to ignore the context of their social interaction and the intent of the selfie-taker. Selfies are borne of vernacular photography practices and are brought into museums and galleries by visitors. Self-portraits are created to be read as art, are displayed in museums or galleries, and we are granted permission to view them as texts, functioning independently from the intent of the artist. вЂњSmartphones and cameras are types of technology, mirrors and painting are other types.вЂќ To her thinking, though, the key difference is not ephemerality, but context and interpretation (again, the bolding is mine): вЂњBoth selfies and self-portraits are forms of self-representation using technology,вЂќ she pointed out. She kindly turned the question into a thought-provoking post on her own blog, here.ДЄlli seconded the notion that technology is not the defining factor. (If Rembrandt lived today, wouldnвЂ™t he be making both?) A portrait lasts, not because it is better than a selfie but because it is meant to.ДЇor a second perspective, I turned to writer and theorist Alli Burness, founder of the Museum Selfies tumblr. Paul Getty Museum, 2013.60Д«y this reasoning, ephemerality-not just medium or skill-is what makes a Rembrandt self-portrait fundamentally different from, say, a Rembrandt selfie. Not a selfie: Rembrandt Laughing (detail), about 1628, Rembrandt Harmensz. An artist could choose to represent him or herself through selfies however, self-portraits donвЂ™t immediately signify selfies. This does not mean that selfies cannot be self-portraits, or that selfies by nature require the opposite of calculated intent. Calling a self-portrait by Rembrandt a selfie is not only anachronistic, it also negates the carefully calculated set of decisions that created the rendering. The self-portrait, whether it is a carefully composed study or created in haste, often contains more decisions than could be easily erased. If after taking a picture of oneself the results are unsatisfactory, it is easily forgotten and replaced by a new picture. What has greater weight is the selfieвЂ™s inherently replaceable and even disposable quality. Qualities like medium specificity, deeply rooted histories, and traditions (or lack thereof) that define these efforts only superficially differentiate the two. The self-portrait and the selfie are two separate, though at times overlapping, efforts at establishing and embellishing a definition of oneвЂ™s self. Instantly curious, I asked him to elaborate on the difference (emphasis mine): вЂњYou do see self-portraits,вЂќ curator Arpad Kovacs said of the show, вЂњbut they are self-portraits rather than selfies.вЂќ At least, thatвЂ™s what I assumed until two weeks ago when I stumbled on an article in The Guardian about the Getty exhibition In Focus: Play.

Hanging out with The GettyвЂ™s new acquisition #museumselfie #manet #TheGetty #museum /4g9gSrnHraДЄ selfie is a self-portrait taken with a smartphone.

Make a self portrait online