Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink
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0:16 - 0:19Hello everyone,
today we're going to talk about selfies. -
0:20 - 0:26Selfies are the most modern way we have
of people showing images of themselves. -
0:26 - 0:30But we've been showing images of ourselves
for thousands of years. -
0:30 - 0:32So, in our talk we're going to look
-
0:32 - 0:35at the relationship
between what we're doing now -
0:35 - 0:38and what we've done previously.
-
0:38 - 0:40Say for example
you don't know what a selfie is, -
0:40 - 0:43you don't have a tween
with an Instagram account. -
0:43 - 0:46I'll tell you,
a selfie is an instant self-portrait -
0:46 - 0:48which you take from a mobile device,
-
0:48 - 0:51you outstretch your arm and you snap it.
-
0:51 - 0:52It's all you,
-
0:52 - 0:55there's no professional photographer,
there's no editor, -
0:55 - 0:57there's no curator
-
0:57 - 1:01and then you instantly upload it
to the Internet for global consumption. -
1:01 - 1:06So your private life is exposed
for everyone to see. -
1:08 - 1:11Being a selfie maker,
-
1:11 - 1:14you're both the creator
and the subject, and you choreograph -
1:14 - 1:19how you're going to look in a selfie:
you decide your body language, -
1:19 - 1:22your proximity to the camera,
where you're going to look, -
1:22 - 1:23what you're wearing,
-
1:23 - 1:26your milieu and very importantly
your facial expression. -
1:28 - 1:32The medium itself
has a very specific aesthetic. -
1:32 - 1:35First of all, most selfies
have a square format, -
1:35 - 1:38usually they're viewed
on an intimate scale, -
1:38 - 1:41maybe on your cell phone or mobile device.
-
1:42 - 1:45They have a very specific
photographic distortion -
1:45 - 1:48which usually is from the arm's length,
-
1:48 - 1:50of the proximity of the camera lens,
-
1:50 - 1:54so this can make your face distorted,
or maybe part of the background distorted, -
1:54 - 1:58and then also because
of the arm's length proximity, -
1:58 - 2:01the picture itself has a very
shallow collapsed sense of space. -
2:01 - 2:03Many selfies,
-
2:03 - 2:07maybe it's because of expertise or not,
have a blur within the image itself, -
2:07 - 2:12and finally a lot of the selfies have
this almost soft, unsaturated sepia tone -
2:12 - 2:15that have an almost nostalgic
quality to them. -
2:17 - 2:23Many people dismiss selfies as being
narcissistic, frankly many of them are, -
2:23 - 2:25and most people can't help
looking at themselves. -
2:25 - 2:27I mean if you walk past a mirror,
-
2:27 - 2:30almost everyone takes a look to see
how things are going on. -
2:30 - 2:32(Laughter)
-
2:32 - 2:35But let's think of selfies
in relationship to art history. -
2:35 - 2:38Are they traditional,
or are they revolutionary? -
2:38 - 2:41Traditionally, when people
had their portraits taken, painted, -
2:42 - 2:43they were done by an artist,
-
2:43 - 2:45and they were seen
through the artist's eye. -
2:45 - 2:50Here we have Louis XIV
as the Sun king, the artist has expertly -
2:50 - 2:56expressed his view of the world
of how he wanted to express himself. -
2:56 - 2:58Sometimes,
-
3:00 - 3:03even if you are
the most powerful person in the world -
3:03 - 3:05and you hire the greatest artist,
-
3:05 - 3:09the portraits weren't
particularly always flattering. -
3:11 - 3:16But now we've gotten rid of the artist
as the conduit, as the intermediary. -
3:16 - 3:18And everyone is an artist,
-
3:18 - 3:21so they can decide
how they want to brand themselves. -
3:21 - 3:24And with every image, they can change
-
3:24 - 3:26their brand, their image, to the world,
-
3:26 - 3:28advertising themselves to the world.
-
3:28 - 3:33So, your self is a very fluid concept
that is constantly being able -
3:33 - 3:37to be moved and developed unlike
the portrait of Louis XIV, -
3:37 - 3:41which we now know hundreds
of years later what his message was. -
3:42 - 3:45Let's think about self portraits,
-
3:45 - 3:46traditionally self portraits
-
3:46 - 3:50we think of Dürer here as a self
constructed artifice, -
3:50 - 3:54he took ideas, what he wanted his beliefs
and his ideas and put them in a painting. -
3:54 - 3:59Here we have Dürer
equating his artistic genius -
3:59 - 4:02to that of almost a Christ-like creator.
-
4:02 - 4:04And then we have the contemporary selfie
-
4:04 - 4:09showing us his superiority with his
all-knowing facial expression. -
4:11 - 4:15So let's think about selfies that fit
into other traditional categories. -
4:16 - 4:18Let's consider body language.
-
4:18 - 4:21Here we have a senator,
this Roman senator, -
4:21 - 4:22Audience: Aw!
-
4:22 - 4:24with this very frontal facial expression,
-
4:24 - 4:27this unflinching expression,
-
4:27 - 4:29looking straight at the camera.
-
4:29 - 4:33And today, when people want
to express power in their image, -
4:33 - 4:35they use this exact same body language.
-
4:36 - 4:39Let's think about... Here we have
a Hellenistic Aphrodite, -
4:39 - 4:42her head is tilted in coy flirtation,
-
4:42 - 4:45as she is flirting
with the Satyr next to her. -
4:45 - 4:47And over and over in contemporary selfies,
-
4:47 - 4:50we have the same exact body language.
-
4:51 - 4:53Many times -
(Laughter) -
4:53 - 4:55Here we have Hercules,
-
4:55 - 4:57his head is bowed down,
-
4:57 - 4:59his arms are away from his body,
-
4:59 - 5:02so that we can look at his toned,
muscular, powerful torso, -
5:02 - 5:06because this is what defines him
as who he is, as his character. -
5:06 - 5:10And again and again, in contemporary
selfies, we have the same idea. -
5:10 - 5:13Even in this contemporary work,
-
5:13 - 5:16the subject's head is even distorted
by the camera lens, -
5:16 - 5:21it's back and a blur because
his focus is his chiseled physique. -
5:21 - 5:25So his physicality becomes
an expression of who he is. -
5:26 - 5:29Here we have Rembrandt as a young artist:
-
5:29 - 5:31his eyes are sunken and dark
and deep and moody, -
5:31 - 5:33he's got pursed lips,
-
5:33 - 5:36his hair with his golden
highlighted coifs, -
5:36 - 5:39and we have this contemporary selfie
-
5:40 - 5:43attempting to express
the same exact poetic angst -
5:43 - 5:46and anguish of youth and talent.
-
5:49 - 5:52Not only can we refer to
-
5:53 - 5:54art history for references,
-
5:54 - 5:55but also to Hollywood,
-
5:55 - 6:00so here we have Mary Pickford
as a certain type of ingenue -
6:01 - 6:05with her golden locks, her doe eyes,
her can-do spirit, -
6:05 - 6:08and we have the contemporary selfie
modeling herself -
6:08 - 6:12almost exactly with that same idea.
-
6:14 - 6:17Not only are selfies about
-
6:17 - 6:20modeling yourself,
but also showing people who you are, -
6:20 - 6:22where you've been.
-
6:23 - 6:28No matter who you are,
they want you to know where they've been -
6:28 - 6:30and they want you to maybe be jealous.
-
6:32 - 6:36So not only look where I am,
but look what I have. (Laughter) -
6:36 - 6:38Do you value what I have?
-
6:38 - 6:39Do you judge me by what I have?
-
6:39 - 6:41Let me show you what I have.
-
6:41 - 6:43Look who I'm with.
-
6:43 - 6:46No matter who you are and no matter
how powerful you are, -
6:46 - 6:49you still want to legitimize your time
-
6:49 - 6:52by showing that you're
with someone who's of import. -
6:54 - 6:59We live in a world where we're constantly
being documented and documenting. -
6:59 - 7:03Because of this, we're very self-conscious
of the photographic process. -
7:03 - 7:05So as a response,
-
7:05 - 7:08when we're taking selfies, a lot of people
-
7:08 - 7:11make a very exaggerated
facial expression, -
7:11 - 7:13freeze it and then take the picture.
-
7:13 - 7:16Because they want to make sure
-
7:16 - 7:21that you know that they're choreographing
that instantaneous expression. -
7:21 - 7:25Certainly they don't want to be caught
in a photograph where they're actually -
7:25 - 7:29instantaneous, unflattering and real.
-
7:30 - 7:32Exposure to Hollywod has shown us
-
7:33 - 7:35how to pose for pictures,
how to smile for pictures, -
7:35 - 7:38but now this awareness of
constant documentation -
7:38 - 7:42has made a very new expression
that is really very specific to selfies -
7:43 - 7:45and has been dubbed the duck face.
-
7:45 - 7:48Selfies are part of the whole history
-
7:48 - 7:50about looking and being looked at.
-
7:50 - 7:54Every selfie is an act
of having yourself on display. -
7:54 - 7:57Every selfie is an act of self-voyeurism.
-
7:57 - 8:00So let's consider the gaze
in some of these pictures. -
8:00 - 8:02Here we have Manet's Olympia.
-
8:02 - 8:05She is challenging us
as we look at her nudity. -
8:05 - 8:07She's looking at us looking at her.
-
8:07 - 8:09And we have this contemporary selfie,
-
8:09 - 8:14taking this very same pose,
using the same eye contact, -
8:14 - 8:17everything is very deliberate
and purposeful. -
8:18 - 8:22Another idea of looking at the gaze
is when a subject is looking away. -
8:22 - 8:24Then they are part of the landscape,
-
8:24 - 8:27part of a still life,
an object to be admired, -
8:27 - 8:31without letting the viewer know
that they're being looked at. -
8:34 - 8:37So ultimately,
who is the visual consumer of the selfie, -
8:38 - 8:39and how do we understand images
-
8:39 - 8:43when they're taken out their
content and context? -
8:43 - 8:45Maybe one person
will read this in one way, -
8:45 - 8:47and another person in another way.
-
8:47 - 8:49So what we do is
-
8:49 - 8:50we place our individual perceptions,
-
8:50 - 8:52our individual experiences
-
8:52 - 8:56and perspectives on the image,
and that creates a multitude of readings, -
8:56 - 8:58a multitude of stories.
-
8:59 - 9:02Because ultimately selfies are a poignant
-
9:02 - 9:07example of the fact that people crave
to be recognized, -
9:07 - 9:10they crave to be remembered, validated.
-
9:12 - 9:15This is an attempt to do these things.
-
9:17 - 9:20But this medium, you can look
at so many images -
9:20 - 9:23at one time that can be compared,
contrasted, -
9:23 - 9:25dismissed, juxtaposed,
-
9:25 - 9:28and every subject creator is always
searching for originality -
9:28 - 9:30when they're making their images.
-
9:30 - 9:34We have to think,
when we're looking at these pieces, -
9:34 - 9:36when you're looking at a selfie
or you're taking a selfie, -
9:36 - 9:40you have to think, how do I fit
into the historical context? -
9:40 - 9:41Thank you!
-
9:41 - 9:44(Applause)
- Title:
- Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink
- Description:
-
In her talk about "Selfies", Elizabeth A. Urbanski covers the fascinating and sometimes puzzling phenomenon of publicly posted instant self portraits snapped on cell phones, and examines these self edited pictures through an art historian's lens and attempt to categorize and analyze as well as understand them in relationship to works significant to Western art history.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 09:54
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink | ||
Ivana Korom edited English subtitles for Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink | ||
Ivana Korom approved English subtitles for Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink | ||
Elisabeth Buffard accepted English subtitles for Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink | ||
Elisabeth Buffard edited English subtitles for Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink | ||
Enshu Cheng edited English subtitles for Selfies - a visual analysis: Elizabeth Urbanski at TEDxNavesink |
Ivana Korom
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