The phenomenon of the ‘selfie’

There’s a new craze sweeping social media called the ‘selfie’. For those who don’t know, a ‘selfie’ is a self portrait taken in a mirror usually with the camera/phone visible. In the past these images were overly popular in the Myspace generation of teenagers desperate for a flattering picture of themselves.

Now, even celebrities like Rihanna are getting in on the act. Posing in their new clothes, friends and even with their pets. What was once the sign of the sad and lonely has become the latest trend for the social media conscious.

What about the history of the portrait? Henry VIII, when he was courting his future soon to ex-wives, would send famous painters such as Hans Holbein the Younger to capture women’s likenesses to see if they suited his tastes. Of course, like in all good portraits, a little tinkering and selective editing was involved and rumours have it that upon meeting Anne of Cleves (whom Henry had chosen over her sister Amalia) the king was distinctly unimpressed with the likeness of the image.

Although famous for the self-portrait of himself wearing a bandage, Vincent van Gogh painted hundreds of images of his own likeness throughout his life, documenting the changes that time brought. Walking through the van Gogh museum in Amsterdam is you see the worries and stresses of his life taking effect as the sadness in his eyes, like the worry lines on his face, deepen with age.

With my photography, I always aim to tell a story and self portraits are a great way of telling a story over a protracted period of time. Some people have upload pictures of themselves onto YouTube, where they have taken a self portrait every single day for years and then made them into a time-lapse vide of their own lives. Like this:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgxxxKwlra8

Whether the self portrait is a source of insecurity, as people search for an image of themselves which they find attractive enough for the rest of the world to see, or a form of defiance is debatable. If you see images such as this Esquire cover, featuring film critic Roger Ebert after he had his jaw removed due to cancer, http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310; you can see that a self portrait can be used to be proud of your own image and a source of strength to others.

In the opening chapter William Gibson’s novel, The Neuromancer, it describes a world where beauty had lost its value. It says “His ugliness was the stuff of legend. In an age of affordable beauty, there was something heraldic babout his lack of it.” A self portrait is a chance to show the world who we really are. Are we that superficial or insecure about our appearance that we would rather people see a skewed image of ourselves or are we warts-and-all proud of how we look?

A portrait should be a true depiction of the person. Not a person trying to conform to the way others are depicted in media and airbrushed photography. The rise of the celebrity selfie could be positive in that it shows their human side but this will no doubt inspire future generations of image obsessed teenagers, who already have enough to worry about without the stress of taking 1,000 pictures, to find the perfect Facebook profile picture.

The sun is finally here: how to photograph sunny conditions.

Dust of the ray-bans, break out the flip-flops, it looks like sunny weather is finally coming to the UK (although probably not for long). So, just as you’ve finally gotten the hang of silhouettes and blue lighting, now you need to readjust your white balances in preparation for the golden hues or spring/summer.

While pointing and clicking is the best way to get some holiday snaps, those wanting a more professional look should remember that camera settings need to be as unique as the conditions surrounding the camera.

For one, if you photograph someone with a light source behind them, like the sun for example, you will more than likely silhouette their figure. This is fine if that’s the look you want but not so great if it isn’t. It is notoriously difficult to judge an image through the tiny view finder on a camera. To improve your chances of a great shot take a lot of images but also know the light quality you are working within.

The golden hour of outdoor photography is often said to be early more or sun setting in summertime as the light quality is softer and easier for the camera to process, this isn’t always true. A new style of cinematography, popularised by directors like JJ Abrams, is starting to be utilised more and more in still life photography in order to literally capture sunlight.

In the past, lens flare was a huge no-no in photograph but increasingly we are seeing it being used for a more natural feel. To achieve lens flare, vary the angle of your shot to try and refract the sunlight through the lens from above or the side of your subject. Depending on the number of lenses in your camera, you should be able to create different shapes of light in your image similar to a bokeh.

Of course, for an instant summer feel you could use an app like Instagram but with the number of people being impressed by the sepia filter depleting, it seems like the search is on for the next big craze in image processing.

To capture the true feeling of summer, it best to think of physical objects that are synonymous with sunny weather. Dandelions, deck chairs or even clothing like flip-flops or straw boater hats can capture that same sense of nostalgia found in Instagram but with more space for creativity and originality.