Concept
Social media influences everything that we do, in more ways than we can comprehend. During our Week 6 Photography seminar we were set the reading “The Selfies: Social Identities in the Digital Age” by Crisia Miroiu (2014), an academic essay discussing the psychological “theory of self” that details when and how we present ourselves specifically in relation to social and digital media in the modern age, specifically citing that “a man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognise him” (James, 1890, 294). The essay opened my eyes to the fact that even I, somebody I’d naively thought immune from the gangrenous influence of social media, manufactured the way I would act on my various platforms based on who I perceived my audience as being.
This fascinated me, and I began to pay more attention to everybody around me. My friends, flatmates, colleagues; people that would upload professionally captured, relatively conservative portraits of themselves to represent them on one social media, would then turn around and pull the most shocking and ostentatious faces captured in the least professional way for another.
Upon deciding on my final project for this module, my mind was inexplicably called back to this reading. The divide (my chosen word: division) between those different “selves” being so fascinating, I felt it best to showcase in a visual medium. When it came to adapting this fascination for a photographic study, having already decided I wanted to display multiple images at once for the ease of comparison and accentuate the division between the selves, I decided to add a control. Something that one could compare and contrast the social media identities to, and I landed very quickly on the passport photo. A totally neutral, government-approved, socially acceptable version of yourself that is presented on nearly every official document you will ever have issued in your name. This third image made each of my individual pieces a triptych (In this context, a set of three individual photographs intended to be viewed / displayed together to appreciate their full artistic meaning).
So I had my base concept. A triptych, displaying three of a given subjects social selves. On either side, a social media (I decided on Facebook and Snapchat, as I felt these would best contrast one another) and in the centre, a control, for measured analysis of the pieces.
Influences
Photographically, without a doubt, the work of Thomas Ruff influenced the way I was to produce my images. His work was showcased during one the lectures in our photography series and, as portraiture always has, it grabbed me. Unusual, considering it is attempting to replicate (albeit in very high quality) the most mundane kind of photography that exists. However, in reading up on Ruff, I began to realise that our mentality behind both projects were very similar. In his own words,
“Some pieces fit together; sometimes there is no connection between them. A lot of my work comes from — you can call it private interest. I see something that upsets me, or makes me laugh or makes me think, what is this strange thing? Then, when I start working on it, I think, oh this is not only interesting for me, but it could also be interesting for another audience.” (Jobey, 2017)
I too was acting on the impulse of a guiding personal interest, and only later realised that my point of view may pique other’s too. Langford stated that “a successful photograph (…) should be able to tell you more, express or interpret more than if you were actually there are at the time viewing the subject itself” (2000, 128) and I feel researching Ruff’s process was undoubtedly valuable in the development of my images, from a literal, and more holistic approach as in such the way Langford described.
Another inspiration, though in much more a manner of simple surface aesthetics than anything else, was Rineke Dijkstra. A Dutch photographer, Dijkstra is best know for her series of full-body portraits taken on large format cameras on beaches around Europe.
Initially, for my series of triptychs, I was concerned with having my lighting be poppy. A character in it’s own right within my photography, however in exploring Dijkstra’s work, both presently and in the past, there is a kind of absurd beauty in how flatly she lights her subject, “combining natural light with flash which results in particular quality of soft, clear light” (July, 2005). This lighting, not calling attention to itself, nor distracting in either a positive or negative way, was something I attempted to replicate in my work, though with studio lighting, and without the use of flash (though that was my original intent, I merely didn’t have the mastery of the equipment to turn out acceptable shots during my test phase).
Alternate Images
The more I worked with my subjects, the more I found they were open to performing as themselves, and not in a reactionary way based on what they thought I’d appreciate.
I would instruct them similarly to, “Act like you would sending a picture to a close friend on Snapchat, pull faces, y’know!”, this is obviously a loaded instruction, leading them with my own bias to how I act on Snapchat, something I only realised after the fact. This is reflected in the first two featured images, where the subjects are contorting their facial features in ways they certainly don’t in their final pieces. The more I would take photographs, the more they would relax and begin to suggest doing things they frequently do on their social media accounts, which I gladly agreed to.
Unfortunately, this approach didn’t work with everybody. The subject of the final two alternate photographs didn’t feel at ease with the shoot at all, and while I attempted to build a professional rapport, she never calmed and wasn’t remotely comfortable in performing for the Snapchat image, and as such I cut off the shoot and let her go so as not to impose on her.
Through the positive relationship I built up during the duration of the shoot with the successful subjects, I also requested from them a caption to place over their Snapchat image. An in-joke, or something they frequently send to close friends, in order to further individualise their pieces and instil them each with a unique personality.
Reflection
In the future, when taking photographs of this type (which I certainly will, whether or not I continue this particular photographic investigation into social selves or take an altogether different approach), I will attempt to be more open in the photographic process, make myself more accessible to the subject so straight from the get-go they may feel comfortable enough to showcase their genuine performance, and will not lead them with any question that inherently displays a biased intention.
Technically speaking, I may also employ the use of a tripod to keep the camera steady and really hone in the focus on my subjects eyes. As showcased in the image below, there were certain photographs that may have be compositionally superior to my final selection, but were unusable due to issues with soft focus. I’m unsure whether this is due to my own technical incompetence, or my hands being shaky and the prescription of my glasses needing updating. It is more than likely the former.
From an artistic point of view, looking at my final pieces as a reflection on my initial concept, I feel they’ve been a relative success, but there is definite room for improvement. Even in so much as changing up the composition a little more dramatically between the social media and control images to really get the point across that these are different portrayals of self without having to colour the accompanying images blue and yellow. A prime example is “Hey beautiful xxxx” where there is virtually no difference in composition between the Facebook and control images. I don’t know of many people whose social media profiles are headed up by a perfectly face-on, square-shouldered image that severely lacks a personality besides the ghost of a devilish grin.
However, I did realise my misstep early on and encouraged my subject in “#EwanDowning” to really get into the mindset of producing an image for his social media, which he did and suggested his portrait be taken in the style of a mirror selfie, something that elevates said triptych above the rest and earns it the title of my favourite amongst the selection I produced for the module.
References:
Miroiu, C. (2014) The Selfies: Social Identities in the Digital Age. Sydney: University of Sydney. Available from: http://www.anzca.net/documents/2014-conf-papers/796-the-selfies-social-identities-in-the-digital-age/file.html [accessed 02/11/17]
James, W. (1890) The Principles of Psychology. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Jobey, L. (2017) An interview with the artist Thomas Ruff. London: Financial Times Group. Available from https://www.ft.com/content/6fbd0cfa-9746-11e7-a652-cde3f882dd7b [accessed 03/12/17]
Langford, M. (2000) Basic Photography (7th Edition). London: Focal Press. Available from: http://lib.myilibrary.com.proxy.library.lincoln.ac.uk/Open.aspx?id=101229 [accessed 08/12/17]
July, E.M. (2005) Julie, Den Haag, Netherlands, February 29 1994. London: Tate. Available from: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/dijkstra-julie-den-haag-netherlands-february-29-1994-p78097 [accessed 08/12/17]
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