12/1/2015

Stuart Poyntz D100 Surrey

TA Elizabeth Sarjeant D104

SAY CHEESE:
SELFIES, SELF-ESTEEM,
AND SELF-EXPLORATION
Erin Jang / 301257511 / emjang@sfu.ca

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Say Cheese: Selfies, Self-Esteem, and Self-Exploration

Capturing the image of ones self has evolved heavily from old-fashioned ferrotypes to
selfies. Societal comfortability in front of cameras has been transformed from fear and anxiety
into a mode of self-expression through self-images. Especially in youth populations, even though
individuals may become obsessive with the image of themselves, selfies positively impact
youths' self-esteem by providing positive social connections and acceptance, as a personal record
book, and most importantly by giving young individuals a way to self-explore themselves.
Thanks to the rise of the network society, sharing and editing photos has never been easier
developing ones identity is effortless with the invention of the internet and digital photography.
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time exceeded the actual achievements of itself; photographys future was long believed to be
unforeseeable, as its applications were out of ones considerable thought. In fact, what was
documented about photography in the 1800s was mostly about its possible potential, in a future
tense (Brevern 69). Brevern also stresses in his article on the impact of expectations and the
capabilities they have in shaping history, especially where economic investments, scientific
discoveries, [and] political revolutions would be impossible without hopes and expectations
(70). As with any new technology, the wonder of how to even predict the future of something so
completely new is perplexing. But, in the 19th century, an age of such acceleration of discoveries,
the future became inexplicably linked alongside the ideas of improvement and progress (70). At
this point in history, new technology, including photography, fulfilled an aching need for
modernity and change where the expectations were high in improving how we perceive the
world and ones sense of self.

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Photographys function in its inception was characterized by its ability to deceive time,
[memorialising] a vision that would appear only momentarily on a mirror (Natale 453). Images
were easily circulated, moving well beyond the rules of distance photography basically
transformed reality into an easy-to-handle commodity that could be carried, marketed and sent
to distant locations (453). Since photographs could travel such far distances, its uses also
managed to freeze time in not only landscapes, but also in capturing the image of people. Some
of the earliest examples of the applications of portrait photography was photographic jewelry,
where photography itself was embedded into jewelry that was involved with the wearers own
body and could be transported easily (454).
Further into the 19th century, photography then began expanding its uses with several
advancements to Victor Griswolds original ferrotype. The straightforward, come-as-youare, independent nature of family photo-taking was generally enjoyed among families, where
they could bring their own props and wear the clothes that they please (Schimmelman 1).
However, as the photo was taken, little of a persons character could be revealed in rarelysmiling self-portraits. Schimmelman describes these images as intensely serious, [containing
eternally timeless expressions] imbued with self-importance or self-reflection (190); and, that,
as individuals, the mid-19th century American was not quite demonstrative to begin with. Almost
everything about taking a photo was strange and new, whether it be the piercing eye of the
photographers camera, the strange intensified light in the room, or the smell of unfamiliar
chemicals, where it seemed entirely unnatural to smile or appear happy in an image that would
be frozen forever (191). Ironically, the culture of portrait photography (still sustained today)
emerged from these timeless photos, where posing and gesturing was encouraged to give a sense
to a viewer what someones character and personality may be like (191).

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Photography has changed very much so in what it was considered to be by both its
operators and sitters. To the photographers, their photos were simply for a sitters visual
documentation, and to record a snapshot of a certain time and place. Ferrotypes and earlier types
of photography were not considered art, and neither was the act of taking photos (Schimmelman
194). One may argue that the early beginnings of photography were indeed integral parts of art
history, but they also interact with many other disciplines including that of media history
involving wireless, television, and digital media (Natale 456).
Photography existed not only for communal reminiscing, but also for sharing experience;
for example, a tourists need to take photos on vacations/trips abroad to show others their
experience through a material photo (Dijck 59). The balance between photography for family
and personal use shifted over an intermediary period leading up to the invention of digital
photography, where an increased comfortability in front of the camera changed photos from just
materializations of memories to actual communication devices that share experience (60). Photo
cameras became household items in America and Western Europe, especially in households with
children; as photography not simply reflected but also constituted family life and structured an
individuals notion of belonging (60). From the late 20th century onwards, the individual, as
opposed to the family, became the focus of pictorials. Self-presentation became integral to
teenagers and young adults while older generations still considered photography as a tool for
simply memory (61). Although communication and identity formation were always functions of
photography, they were always rated secondary to its prime purpose of memory (58). The role
of photography became much more integral to youth once digital photography was invented.

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An entirely new culture surrounding photography began to form in 1957 when Russell A.
Kirsch scanned an image of his son into a computer, and he and his colleagues created a
mechanical drum scanner to trace the surfaces of photographs (Peres 43). The creation of digital
photography also eased printing through the use of cyan, yellow, and magenta ribbons in dye
sublimation processes. Further advancements in 1959 caused a breakthrough in storing photos, as
Bob Noyce, a Fairchild Semiconductor, printed an electronic circuit on a single microchip the
computer revolution had begun here. D. Greggs videodisk camera in 1963 could store digital
images for several minutes, leading up to the invention of the filmless electronic camera (43).
While these massive developments made the physical technology of digital photography so much
more portable, image quality and file size continued to grow. Looking back in the last half of the
20th century, cameras may seem clunky and old-fashioned; but, the coming-of of the digital age
brought so many possibilities for the future than one could ever imagine. The initial invention of
the World Wide Web in 1984 also brought upon the generated beginnings of photo sharing
communities online (45).
Flickr and its usage of Web 2.0 is a common case study of the importance of photo
sharing communities in the upcoming digital and network society. The main goal of Flickr was to
create a rich social space in which users were given a degree of freedom to construct and
manage things themselves (Cox 495). However, Flickr gave the digital world more than just a
space to upload photos; it brought photo sharing, social networking, blogging, photo
organization and group scrapbooking, where more than eighty percent of photos posted were
public (495). Socially connecting on the website is achieved through user comments, a common
practice in mostly all social network sites today.

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The sharing of self-portraits online, dubbed the selfie, nowadays narrates many young
peoples lives without a thought. The relationship between digital photography and online photo
sharing combined to create a very interesting way of looking at the effect of photos in the
modern world (Suler 178). Increased portability and integration of cameras into phones and
devices also aids with youths casualness in front of the camera, where people could take selfies
whenever and wherever they wanted, simply by holding out their hands to aim the camera at
themselves (178). Photographers and cameras (especially in phones) are no longer a formal job
and object, but instead are just another part of daily lives. Anyone can be a photographer with the
resources supplied in this day and age. The rise of selfies in the early 2010s was critically
ridiculed as a time of uninhibited, superficial exhibitionism, where the future involving the
self-portraits appeared to be bleak. This posed an interesting parallel to the invention of
photography itself as improving our lives and future, and with selfies as being narcissistic, selfindulgent, and a desperate need for attention to those of appreciation (178). Luckily, a more
positive outlook on the self-portraits has risen.
As mentioned earlier, self-presentation became integral to youth as time went on, in
comparison to older generations who still considered photography as a memory tool. This boils
down to the vast change in self-presentation among young people in the digital age, and the
impression that youth want to show to others at different times in their life. Individuals,
especially youth who are trying to find their place in the world, become mouldable to the preconceived ideas of who they should be online and offline, and are actively engaged in
performing a role, the self, and this performance is put on for the outside world, the audience
(Cunnnigham 16). In the network society, the youth population has to know which version of

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themselves to be at the right place and time, rather than letting their environment mould itself
around them.
Selfies can act as a self-reflective space where friends, family, and even strangers can
enjoy a candid of anothers day through social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, and more. The image of how one wants to appear to others can be shown through such
selfies, and the feedback received after posting may positively affect the one posting the image
(Suler 177). Feedback in the form of simple buttonized likes and favourites now have such
an impact on youth that it successfully makes one feel liked or validated based on the amount of
likes or favourites received (177). According to a research report posted by the non-profit child
advocacy group Common Sense Media, one in five teens said social media makes them feel
more confident, compared with four percent who said it makes them feel less so (Social Media,
Social Life: How Teens View Their Digital Lives). This raises the question as to why social
media and posting self-portraits makes youth feel more confident at all. In a connecting sense,
selfies followed by a description of ones day, quote, or mood, can work as a way to let others
know how they are doing without the need to ask directly. All of these points may work
negatively, however, where ones image on social media through personal photos such as selfies
becomes more important than who they are in reality (if there is a difference at all). Users may be
placed in an objective viewpoint from their audiences because of the unconscious awareness of
every single detail in their uploads, which can work for better or for worse in the formation of
ones identity (177).
As they are still an aspect of photography, selfies can function as a personal record book.
Much like the most common use of photographs, to freeze a memory, selfies may work in the
same way. Snapping a self-portrait at an event with friends, family, or by ones self can evoke

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positive feelings in the future, looking back on good times. In Sulers article, he explains that
people sometimes post self-portraits to counteract the social impact of photographs that other
people take of them online (178), and that as photos are posted of others online, the
photographers perspective of the other person and relationship with them is shown (178). In a
world of Facebook photo tagging, it is clear that some aspects of a persons personality may be
unfavourable, and thus usually easily removable on such social networking sites. Similarly, it
works the same way with selfies, in which a selfie featuring another person can easily show the
public their relationship. It may also be used for observing ones own personal growth over
months or years, and to provide sentimental value just like a regular photo.
The initial feeling after posting a selfie may be one of self-consciousness, and
worriedness of negative reactions. But, as time passes and one receives continuous positive
feedback, the comfort in taking self-portraits becomes easier and easier, and more carefree (Suler
179). Facets of someones personality can be expressed through social media platforms, and
through several strings of photos, an audience can conceptualize how a users personality is just
based on the photos they post and words they post in a description (179). Routinely updating and
posting selfies sometimes even gives youth the feeling of who they want to be on a particular
day, if it cannot be expressed through words unfortunately, a fixation on such self-portraits
can be detrimental to a persons thought process. Too much emphasis on a certain type of selfexpression can bring along negative feedback if a large audience or following does not favour it
(180).
The negatives of selfies are often much more focussed on in news outlets than the
positive, but with good reason as well; selfies and social media can be destructing to ones selfesteem rather than having a positive effect if something goes wrong. After all, the internet can be

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regarded as ruthless in its ability to be anonymous. Youths can become so obsessed with the way
they present themselves online, that, when offline, they may be nothing like how they express
themselves in the digital world. However, on the flip side of that, in a society that is increasingly
recognizing the social troubles that the modern youth may be growing up with compared to the
older generations, perhaps selfies and social media may be the only way to express and identify
ones self. After all, who doesnt want to be unique and liked by most?
Selfies, combined with the power of social media and networking, can definitely boost
youths self-esteem and be genuinely reflective. The general consensus regarding selfies has
evolved from a negative standpoint to a more positive one. As expected, there are still many
critics of the selfie and social media, but, if the youth population is self-aware in knowing that
the possible superficialness of social media could be harmful in the long run, then by all means,
post that personal photo. The possibilities of youth involvement in photography and selfexploration are endless; in a generation that grew up with the internet, it is difficult to imagine a
world without it all one needs to recognize is that there is a real world out there, and that social
media may not always fill all the gaps in life that it may seem like it promises.

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Works Cited
Brevern, Jan Von. "The Eternal Child: On Expectations in the History of Photography." Getty
Research Journal (2015): 67-80. JSTOR. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/stable/pdfplus/10.1086/
680735.pdf?acceptTC=true&jpdConfirm=true>.
Cox, Andrew M. "Flickr: A Case Study of Web2.0." AP Aslib Proceedings 60.5 (2008): 493516. Emerald Insight. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
<http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00012530810908210>.
Cunningham, Carolyn. Social Networking and Impression Management: Self-presentation in the
Digital Age. Lanham: Lexington, 2013. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
<http://google.ca/books?id=CS4s5Ad1qAC&lpg=PP5&ots=01KVykY9xl&dq=Social%20networking%20and%20impressi
on%20management%3A%20selfpresentation%20in%20the%20digital%20
age&lr&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false>.
Dijck, J. Van. "Digital Photography: Communication, Identity, Memory." Visual Communication
7.1 (2008): 57-76. SAGE Journals. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.
<http://vcj.sagepub.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/content/7/1/57.full.pdf+html>.
Natale, Simone. "Photography and Communication Media in the Nineteenth Century." History of
Photography (2012): n. pag. Photography and Communication Media in the Nineteenth
Century Routledge. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
< http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03087298.2012.680306>.
Peres, Michael R., ed. Focal Encyclopedia of Photography: Digital Imaging, Theory and
Applications, History, and Science. 4th ed. Elsevier, Inc., 2007. Gale Virtual Reference
Library. Web. 28 Nov. 2015. <http://go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/ps/
i.do?id=GALE|9780080477848&v=2.1&u=sfu_z39&it=aboutBook&p=GVRL&sw=w>.
Schimmelman, Janice G. "The Tintype in America 1856-1880." Transactions of the American
Philosophical Society 97.2 (2007): n. pag. JSTOR. Web. 27 Nov. 2015.

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<http://www.jstor.org/stable/20020419>.
Social Media, Social Life: How Teens View Their Digital Lives. Rep. Common Sense Media, 26
June 2012. Web. 28 Nov. 2015. <https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/
social-media-social-life-how-teens-view-their-digital-lives>.
Suler, John. "From Self-Portraits to Selfies." International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic
Studies 12.2 (2015): 175-80. Wiley Online Library. Web. 26 Nov. 2015.
<http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.proxy.lib.sfu.ca/doi/10.1002/aps.1448/epdf>.