“...people who did not consider themselves photography buffs as recently as five years ago are filling ever-larger hard drives with thousands of images from their lives. And one particular kind of image has especially soared in popularity, particularly among the young: the self-portrait, which has become a kind of folk art for the digital age. Framing themselves at arm's length, teenagers snap their own pictures and pass the cameras to friends at school or e-mail the images or upload them to the Internet. For a generation raised on a mantra of self-esteem, striking a heroic, sultry or brooding pose and sharing it with the world comes naturally. [...] ”I think it is probably a new genre of photography,“ said Guy Stricherz [...]
To a certain extent new technology is driving the new self-portraiture. Cellphone cameras and other digital cameras are sold with wide-angle lenses that allow a picture taken at arm's length to remain in focus. Computers are essentially $1,000 darkrooms that permit sophisticated manipulation of images. But technology alone can't explain the trend. Even in previous generations when cameras were cheap, they
were generally reserved for special occasions. ”In 1960 a person just wouldn't take a Kodak Brownie picture of themselves,“ Mr. Stricherz said. ”It would have been considered too self-aggrandizing.“
Psychologists and others who study teenagers say the digital self-portraiture is an extension of behavior typical of the young, like trying on different identities, which earlier generations might have expressed through clothing and hairstyles. ”Most of what I've been seeing is taking place in the bedroom,“ said Kathryn C. Montgomery, a professor of communication at American University, referring to teenage self-portraits. Dr. Montgomery studies the relation of teenagers to the digital media. ”It's a locus of teen life where they are forming their identities, and now it's also a private studio where they can develop who they are. “What better tool could they have than one that allows them to take pictures of themselves and manipulate them like never before?” [...]
“When I was a kid I didn't want my picture taken,” said Jim Taylor, a trend consultant at the Harrison Group in Waterbury, Conn. “But these kids are fabulous self-marketers.” He added: “They see celebrities expressing their self-worth and want to join the party. This is a free forum to do so.” “Self-branding is a big deal for kids, and self-produced entertainment is a big deal,” Mr. Taylor said. In their pictures, ordinary young women metamorphose into glamour queens or pinup girls, thanks to a few well-rehearsed come-hither poses and mood lighting reminiscent of an old Hollywood studio portrait. Average boys turn themselves into brooding antiheroes by gazing intently into their camera lens in a darkened room, face half buried in shadow. [...]
Amber Davidson, 19, a freshman at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., refreshes her self-portrait on MySpace every couple of weeks and puts a lot of thought into it. “There's been a big increase in creativity over the past couple of years,” she said, referring to the self-portraits on the site. “A lot of people get inspired by what they see in other people's pictures.” [...]
“In a funny way I don't see this as photography anymore,” said Fred Ritchin, an associate professor in the photography and imaging department at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. “It's communication. It's all an extension of cellphones, texting and e-mailing.” [NY Times]
What isn't mentioned in this article, and it is rampant, are the self-nudes teens are taking of themselves and sharing with friends and potential love interests through e-mail and IMs. Teens who get a self-esteme boost through the digital age of self-portraiture aren't paying too much attention to the consequences of the impulsive urge to share such images with people who may or may not respect their privacy by sharing those very images with other people.
Posted by: Patrick | 22 February 2006 at 09:01 AM
yeah, adults do it. i'm 57, I've been photographing myself since I was 21. I've graduated from the drug store to the dark room to digital which has been a life saver. I take my picture as often as I can. I'm a semi-pro photograherand I have to say I've never found anything or anyone to photograph that was more satisfying than photographing myself.
Posted by: Jim | 13 May 2006 at 02:37 PM