“Unselfie” is an artistic satire about how technological development gives us an opportunity to explore the sense of self through different platforms. The entire body of work consists of two parts, still images and a video. All of them touch upon the subject matter of how selfies enrich and delude our sense of self.
The main fictional character is Sandy Darling, an actress from the 1960s living in a present moment and trying to understand, how self-promotion and self-perception have changed. She feels very new to the idea of constantly taking self-portraits and trying to promote yourself on virtually created platforms.
During the process of learning, Sandy meets famous influencers who make living by capturing images of their daily activities and selfies and posting them on Instagram. They are all experts in the current trend of self-presentation. Meeting with influencers expands Sandy’s understanding of the importance of technology and how much it actually affects us daily.
This photographic project investigates the constant need of presenting a perfect self and the growing narcissism in our society. At the same time, it raises curiosity in me to investigate the feeling and momentum action about why we take our self-portraits, the empowering moment of controlling the situation and other psychological aspects.
Credits: Model - Erika Stas; Makeup - Cici Andersen.
Gallery exhibition in Los Angeles
