Is a Selfie Art?

Social media today has allowed many people to take photos of themselves and post them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Every day millions of selfies are taken and posted through social media or sent through emails or text messages. However, I do not believe that taking a photo of yourself should be considered art. A selfie is not a form of art because it is nothing more than a photo of yourself that is normally plain and simple. I do believe that people are beautiful and the human body can be a form of art but it depends on how it is displayed. For example, a selfie of a person who has their face painted may be considered art. I do agree that a selfie can be viewed as a type of performance because the person who is taking the photo of themself is posing in a certain way in which they would like to be portrayed. Many people take a selfie with a background that represents nature’s beauty or is setup in an artistic manner. In this case, a selfie taken where the person and the background all come together with with an artistic representation is the only time when I would consider a selfie as a form of art. If it is just a regular photo of a person then it is not art. Art in my opinion takes effort and time to construct. When a person is taking a selfie they are just clicking a button and within a second have captured themselves with no effort or construction taken except for maybe a facial expression or a pose.