Selfie

 

I have toyed with the idea of the selfie for a while now. The first drawing I did about it was last year some time. It was based on this woman who injected her backside with lots of illegal silicone in order to expand it to super human proportions. She became so popular off the back of her backside selfie’s that she even wrote a book. I have forgotten her name now, but below is said drawing.

I find it fascinating that people take photos of themselves like this and post them on social media sites. Is it validation that they seek from their peers? On the one hand, I can imagine that it is an extreme boost to the ego when you have other human beings in your social media circle hitting like and posting flattering messages on your photo’s. However, it must be equally devastating when people either don’t comment or leave nasty comments.

 

I rather like the actor James Franco. I find him interesting and rather attractive. He is the only celebrity I follow on Instagram and he has picked up on the selfie phenomenon in a more interesting way than any other celebrity. Franco does not appear to take himelf or the celeb lifestyle too seriously, which I like.

 

Anyway, he has been dubbed the “selfie king” and has hundreds of selfies on his Instagram feed.  In fact,  he even wrote an entire essay on it in the New York Times! According to Franco, selfie’s attract attention. Having selfie’s on your Instagram profile attracts more attention than posting photos of art projects. For every promo photo for a project, he posts a selfie. According to Franco, selfie’s act as a communication tool- letting people know instantly how you are feeling, as well as an instrument of vanity. Selfie’s garner the most attention and “Likes,” which in social media land is vital to your popularity. I guess that explains it then.