I agree with pretty much the whole article. Some people I know take pictures with the explicit purpose of putting them on Myspace or Facebook (i.e., me). Some people only drag out the old handy dandy camera for special occasions such as birthday parties, Christmas, Easter, Christenings, etc. Still others document their lives with pictures and images from everything: themselves in a restaurant, the random people around them in a restaurant, at a park, in the pool, everything. I happen to like the last part, because I don’t just want to remember the special occasions, I want to remember the dull and mundane things about my life as well. I don’t think self-portraits from cell phones and Myspace is a new genre of photography. I do agree, however, that it’s a trend with the younger generation because of its easy accessibility and it’s easy to post it to the world to see. I like looking at people and seeing them in different situations candid moments or posed. It’s entertaining and can sometimes provide people with information about a person; how they feel about themselves or how they want to be perceived. I don’t happen to like self-portraiture in my own work. I don’t like to stare at myself over-much unless I have a truly gorgeous picture of myself (and to me, that’s hard to do a lot of times). It does seem slightly narcissistic, but if I were doing it for the purpose of Myspace, it’s not for me to see. I put pictures up so people can see what I’ve been doing and how I’ve changed or special occasions. I don’t normally print out pictures anymore.
I hate taking pictures of myself, too! :) Mostly for the same reasons, too. I think a lot of the pictures on facebook are fun to look at, though. Some just inspire that "What was s/he *thinking*?" Those are also the fun ones to talk about; maybe get the story behind them. lol,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and samii! I like the pictures of people in their everyday life. They aren't necessarily art, but they are very fun to look at and they tell a lot about the person. And I also hate taking pictures of myself.
ReplyDeleteHi Tabitha. Well written article. Be careful when you speak boldly about cell phones NOT being a newer form of art. If you "google" "Cell phone photography" I think that you would be surprised to see some of the pieces that will come up. There is some very strong artistic photography out there that is done using a cell phone camera. Remember, art can be made using almost anything.
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