Well, for the most part. Girl with a whole album of selfies from one day in the bathroom? You are a different story.
Back to the point! A quick Google search for self portraits reveals portraits from artists throughout the centuries – Frida Kahlo, Rembrandt, and Picasso are intermixed with portraits of people just like you and I who felt inspired to capture themselves one day.
It seems that “selfie” has garnered negative connotations from countless folks who have labeled this generation as self-obsessed – but “self portrait” still remains a respected practice in the art world (a milestone, oftentimes of a students creative process while in school.)
To me, both the act of taking a selfie and of creating a self portrait are one in the same – humans have a desire to remember everything that we can…and this doesn’t just mean remembering people and places around us, but it means remembering the way we looked and felt in a season of life. I’ve seen many “throwback thursday” posts hailing the days of MySpace selfies with captions like “I can’t believe I went out in public like this…” Looking at pictures of ourselves as kids reminds us of priceless times in our childhood, and I think that looking at a picture of yourself that you took a few years back can bring the same nostalgia.
Moral of the story? Take a selfie (correctly!) Remember where you where at, what you were thinking, and what makeup look you thought was cool. Don’t be bathroom girl with 7,000 selfies from one afternoon, but DO take one every once in a while. Your future self will thank you.
After reading your words it seems to me that you are actually speaking of watching development occur – development of ourselves whether it is our thoughts; manner of style in dress – makeup – etc. I must agree with you Nina.