Through the paintings I have done during my sixth month study of social media called the "Selfie Series"-watching us watch ourselves, I have become fascinated by social media and human behavior. Since its all fair game there is hardly a moral code in posting "selfies" on the internet or social media. In some ways social media is the death of common sense.
A selfie is no longer just a quick thoughtless photo. It has matured and morphed into a way of branding ourselves and the image we want circulating into the cyber abyss. People use various smart phone apps/filters to enhance, correct and produce the perfect selfie marketing image. It has become a strong way of communicating our attitude, mood and inspiration along with short broken texts of quotes and hashtags, all in an attempt to control how others may form an opinion of us.
Artists frequently issue verbal supplements in an attempt to control the interpretation of their works, and even the most shrewd of critics cannot help but be influenced by them. I have asked myself lately is the # hashtag a way to manipulate the interpretation of selfies and visual imagery. In Art, every culture also has a tradition of representation. Could the Selfie be our generations representation? Like an artist trying to control the interpretation of their art work, could it be said that a "Selfie" self portraiture is the art of representation of ones self or alter ego. The whole narcissistic truth and fantasy meet with a selfie capturing beauty, animated facial silliness, being fit, showing sexuality and rebellion. It has been said Photography is the art of seeing and quite possibly the "Selfie" is the art of branding.