Selfies Reimagined

An honest self-portrait is extremely rare…

W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1947 for poetry, clearly knew a thing or two about words and the subjects he studied. His observation that “An honest self-portrait is extremely rare…” was written before the age of electronically delivered social media. However, I think it is reasonable to assume he might have made the same comment with respect to selfies and Tik Tok posts. There are legions of supporters and detractors debating this art (?) form online, but I believe that arguably few posts would meet Auden’s bar of honesty. Of course, there is also a long list of well known photographers who created memorable and influential self-portraits, but that is a different world from the ubiquitous social media selfie.

I have, frankly, no useful suggestions on how to go about creating an honest self-portrait. So, I have instead re-framed the challenge as a question - how would living creatures, other than humans, approach this? Would such an image be any more honest or authentic? In the gallery images I have posted for this blog, I have tried to select a few pictures that I think might represent what a selfie taken by the subject of these photos might look like. Imagine, for a moment, that this could be possible. Then, give a thought to what Auden would say, comparing the two styles of image.

I’ve thought this over and decided it would probably be wise for me to continue to stay away from selfies in my own photography. If only this July heat would break and let me get out to take some new photos.