The Rise of Self-Portraitsin the Modern Age By: @Blakelw

Photo Via: Mr. T in DC

Humanity’s first photos were faded,blurry and expensive

Photo via: Dean Terry

Good photographs required time and skill to perfect

Photo via: J.P. Doremus

The 30s caused major breakthroughs for the first consumer cameras

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Cameras became cheap enough to become mass-marketed

Camera technology

improved so drasticallythat cameras

became reliable enough for

even a childto use

Photo via: Gina Tupe

The Digital Revolution created the firstdigital cameras

Photo via: Duncan Rawlinson

Cameras that did not requirefilm to takepictures

The advent of digital camera technology

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lead to cameras becoming standard in cell-phones

“The photographs of my youth were deeply considered affairs – was it worth using up a 24-

exposure FujiFilm roll on a photo that might not even be in focus? No such worries with a cameraphone.”

Bim Adewunmi, Guardian Writer Photo via: Sam Yap

The internet made sharing pictures even easier

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Now a photo can be taken, processed and shared with thousands of people in a manner of seconds

In 2013, humanity has the ability to share photos

with people all over the world, for less than pennies, at upload speeds faster than one

second…

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What popular trend has arisenbecause of this extraordinary technology?

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The Selfie Phenomenon

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Photo via: Jason Bateman

NounSelfie (plural selfies) (Internet slang) 

A self-taken picture.

Selfies have become so popular that “two-thirds of women surveyed admitted to taking the self-snaps.”

Jillian McHugh, WA-today writer

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Even Meryl Streep and Hillary Clinton have been caught taking selfies

Photo via: Huffington Post

But why? What’s the appeal?

The Fashion Angle

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Many fashion-conscious people have turned to Instagram and other sites to show off their style though

selfies, and with good reason, 26 percent of women report getting the majority of their style ideas from

bloggers, as opposed to just 15 percent for celebrities.

Source: Jillian McHugh, WA-today writer

Photo via: BET.com

The Show-off Angle

Photo via: Dean Terry

Selfies can also be as Facebook profile pictures, a way for people to present themselves the way they’d

like to be viewed

Photo via: Send Me Adrift

A selfie puts full control

of the picture’s outcome

on the user, securing a

guaranteed final result

Photo via: SimonCliveHughes

Photo via: WhatKatieWore.com

“You’re not going to be taking an image of yourself in tracky

dacks, watching TV”

Cultural Studies Professor, Jon Stratton

The Selfie Phenomenon may not be as vain as it seems however

Photo via: Dean Terry

“There are very few people who are completely confident.”

Cultural Studies Professor, Jon Stratton

Photo via: Boston Public Library

Studies have shown that comments on your Facebook profile picture strongly affect your level of self-worth

Source: Hurst, Facebook Study

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Having positive feedback on selfie photographs can lead to a moreself-confident

life!

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So while it may not be the solution to world hunger

Photo via: AtomicaScala.com

Selfies may help people lead more confident lives

All Pictures are from Flickr, personal blogs or are otherwise noted at the bottom of every page

Information Sourceshttp://mashable.com/2013/02/15/social-media-and-the-selfie/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/apr/02/rise-and-rise-of-the-selfie

http://www.watoday.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/selfies-just-as-much-for-the-insecure-as-showoffs-20130403-2h6ow.html