Maddalena RosetoHW 1: Photography, Selfies, and Cindy Sherman

Photography is a form of art which since the 19th century has served as a purpose to suggest the truth. Similar to Eugene Thibault’s Revolution of 1848 After the Attack, todays “selfie” is quite similar in that we use a photo to show viewers what we as the artist want them to see. Over the recent years, with the evolution of social media platforms, “selfies” have become the epitome of what make up these networks. Weather used for reconnecting with friends/family, or used as a dating platform, “selfies” are what we use to identify a person, what they look like, their mood/feeling, their status, their style, and the list can go on. Unfortunately, mobile applications have allowed easy access for the 24 billion individuals posting selfies on Google Photos, according to Google, to manipulate their photos to depict a version of themselves to their followers that, although may not be a representation of reality, seems “perfect”. The manipulation includes removing a blemish, changing a physical feature through enhancement of assets, or removing a curve, creating a tan, creating a whiter smile, and so forth. All this is done to create an image of ourselves that we believe to be ideal and attractive to others, yet, it allows a way for us as individuals to lose the qualities that make us unique. Instead, with all these app associated with social media, all 24 billion of our selfies share the same, picture perfect, auto-corrected, slim waist, bright smile qualities.
In the article found in New York Times about the artist Cindy Sherman, she uses her platform on social media to dramatically “auto-tune” her selfies, the way our generation does on a daily basis. She makes it clear that these numerous applications that exist that allow us to alter our selfies have created a world of deception. “ …and that the most hazardous disguises are the forced smiles we now whiten with our index fingers”. Sherman reveals that by allowing these tools we use to edit our selfies in order to change how our followers view us is detrimental to accepting ourselves.