Why take self portraits?
98%
of the images of myself that I share are self-portraits. Over the last few years, my relationship with acknowledging that has changed. I had to peel back a bunch of layers of projected fears to get here.
1: “It’s vain to take pictures of yourself.” - Ah vanity, one of the seven deadlies. The sin of vanity is rooted in the assumption that focusing on the self takes attention away from God, away from your pious acts within the community, or elevates the self to the level of God. I remember youth pastors telling us (usually the girls specifically, no surprise there) that spending time in front of the mirror is an act of self-worship. I was also raised in the 90s at the rise of Girl Power, which was all about re-establishing the self-worth of young girls. So on the one hand, you’re a super powerful being who can do anything, but on the other hand, you can never acknowledge that, not even to yourself. No wonder we’re confused. Back to religion (because if you’re going to talk about sin, it’s going to inevitably lead back there) - we are also taught in the Western Christian church that humans are created in the image of God. That would logically lead, then, that the celebration of the body and the beauty of the self is not self-worship at all, but praise of the creator and the image of the creator. I don’t ascribe to those systems of belief any longer, but undoing their impact on my psyche has taken a lot of work. So no, I do not feel vain when I take pictures of myself. I am celebrating this body that I am so blessed to live in.
2: “Why can’t you get someone else to take your picture?” - This is a quick and easy answer: I am a control freak, and I am fiercely independent. I want a certain framing, I want a certain shape, I want certain light. And my partner is often out of town or busy so there’s nobody to boss around. I’ve been racing the self-timer since my first digital camera. It’s a fun challenge (usually). I do what I want.
3: “People will stare.” - This does still get me sometimes. There’s nothing like standing in a public park, throwing around a piece of fabric and having a family walk past right in the middle of the shot. Nothing to see here, folks… But really, the fear that someone will see what you’re doing and think you’re weird is one of the biggest projected fears that I think most people deal with in everyday ways. I know it has prevented me from doing many things I wanted to do. That’s what ultimately broke through for me: the idea that someone else might have a thought about me is keeping me from doing what I want to do. What a load of crap! My best friend reminded me, and often re-reminds me, that humans are deeply self-interested creatures. Most folks are walking around thinking that everyone else is watching and judging them - they’re too caught up in worrying about what YOU might think of THEM to give much thought to your antics. And even if they do have an internal chuckle and say “wow well that’s not what I was expecting to see on this walk” they’ll go right back to whatever they were thinking about before. Really, I would be much more concerned about someone asking me to get off their property than I would be someone raising an eyebrow at my tripod setup. And as Harry Winston said, “People will stare. Make it worth their while.”
4: “Selfies are for young people.” - This goes hand in hand with the “vanity” thing. Society tells women that there is a certain age range within which they are allowed to feel “beautiful.” This is reinforced by Hollywood’s historic distaste for casting female leads over the age of 28 and our culture’s insatiable desire for the next new young thing to dote over. Kick that shit to the curb. You are alive? That is beautiful. Take a picture of that. Take a picture now so that in 5, 10, 40 years you can say, “look how YOUNG I was!”
5: “Selfies aren’t art.” - Ok, listen. Yes and no. I’m not going to get into what constitutes art photography and what doesn’t, or whether a mirror selfie with all your bathroom junk littered in the foreground counts as art. But self-portraiture has been a pillar of the art community for millennia! When I set out to take a self-portrait, I treat it like a production company would treat a photo shoot. I plan out location, wardrobe, equipment, framing, and alternates for all of the above. Occasionally there’s a “oo, let’s just grab a quick shot here in the bathroom” but those pick-ups are not the goal. And no disrespect to the ubiquitous front-facing camera duck pout, but that’s not what I mean when I say “self portrait.” There’s been a growing movement of #advancedselfie on IG for several years now and that’s where I’ve found so much inspiration. Posing, lighting, dressing yourself as if YOU were the model in a high-fashion shoot - that is the ultimate. And so much fun, too.
Self-portraits are important. They let you portray and project yourself the way you want to be seen, and in return they allow you to see the way others see you. They give you a chronicle of your growth, the beautiful progression of years, or just how long your hair has gotten during quarantine. Self-portraiture is a celebration of how far you’ve come and where you are headed, true self-expression through the very accessible medium of photography.
Try it! See how it feels!
Pin this for later
