HW 1 Aaron Hollingsworth-Harris: Photography, Selfies, and Cindy Sherman

My personal experience with the selfie is actually somewhat scarce for someone my age, even though people around my age have taken a rough amount of 1 million selfies within a day. However, I have wondered about why people seem to like taking selfies, even with the association of narcissistic behavior that comes with the action. I’ve also tried having more optimistic thoughts that maybe people take this many selfies to show other people that living a life like in that selfie can be possible for them if they try. However, I have learned one lesson from looking at how people take selfies. In a general sense, selfies are an essential media tool to tell the story of the photographer, whether it is full of joy and happiness or sorrow and grief.

However, that doesn’t mean that there’s no harm that comes with the introduction of a powerful social media tool like the selfie. The reason I believe that the selfie can be seen as a type of double-edged blade is that the selfie can be used for a wide variety of purposes and causes while seeming harmless at a short glance. There are many influential people in the world who have embraced and used the selfie for wonderful purposes pertaining to important topics or simply for entertainment. However, that doesn’t dismiss the possibility of another influential person using their face to spread a message to their followers that could potentially be harmful. So with this in mind, it is apparent that selfies can and have brought about great joy to the world. That still doesn’t mean that this kind of tool isn’t meant to be handled responsibly.

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One Response to HW 1 Aaron Hollingsworth-Harris: Photography, Selfies, and Cindy Sherman

  1. Sandra Cheng says:

    This is a very thoughtful post on the power of social media, and the accompanying responsibility people have to use these tools. This is a wonderful post!

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