I think I’ve never paid so much attention to the word selfie before. It’s deeper meaning is that it’s a ‘self portrait’ but it’s a word that only seems to apply to people that take pictures of themselves with smart phones. ( I looked it up, that’s basically the literal definition.) One would guess the only reason the word was invented in the first place is because #selfportrait takes up too many characters that one is willing to type.

Through it’s time it’s seen a ridiculous amount of derivatives. A helfie picture of your hair, welfie meaning ‘workout selfie’,  Shelfies for shelves, felfies for farmer self portraits, and I’ve recently discovered the footie or ‘selfeet’ which is exactly what you think it is. basically you can take a picture of anything as long as you give it a stupid name.

It’s almost an elephant in the room that the word ‘selfie’ has lost it’s meaning almost entirely after it was conceived.

That’s just the way fads go.

It’s funny how I’ve come to understand something as a form of artistic expression sound like it’s being openly mocked by kids with cell phones.

In terms of an internet-cultured society, it’s really nothing more than a sign of the times. People like taking pictures of themselves, even more so since every device on the planet has a camera built in. Even more so that the act of it has been given a cute name. we sit idly with these devices in which we do everything but phone people with and the pictures just seem to happen.

The Self portrait was a way for an artist to express themselves in a particular fashion, whether it be a painting/drawing or photograph, it’s a wonderful way to express how they feel or see themselves in the profession that they chose.

The selfie, has mostly been a tool of vanity or self obsession. while the portrait is methodical in execution, a selfie is taken everyday to show off an outfit, body parts, or showing off the all the stupid faces one can make. (There’s too many examples I can pull up, but just type the word into google to see examples A. through ZZA.)

Even though people takes pictures of themselves with only the best (or most vain) of intentions, their pictures being broadcast amongst thousand of internet goers just leads to objectification and other such creepiness. Often times, that actually perpetuates the cycle. Most people don’t usually take selfies because they want to, they do it because they like the attention it gets.

It’s hard not to look at the ‘selfie’ as nothing more than obsessive behavior. It may be fun for some, but it’s also a study of borderline narcissism when you look at the types of pictures that people take of themselves…

…Well, it’s equal parts that and news media’s obsession with reporting whenever celebrities or politicians take pictures of themselves. (

Overall I think it’s fascinating, and taking one look at my instagram account I’m happy that I’m not even the smallest offender of the word. ( #teamselfportrait) 

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There’s a follow up to the self portrait that I want to shed light on, in the artistic sense. When it comes to self drawings there’s a fascinating difference in how we see ourselves, and how we want to see ourselves.

So expect a part 2 of a #selfiendulgence down the road.