The Art of Selfies & Self-Portraits:A How-To Adventure in Photography

Not for the Timid or the ShyCopyright © Rick Doble 2014. All rights reserved.

Cover photo: commons.wikimedia,org

How To Use This eBookIMPORTANT!

You must download the ppt PowerPoint file to see the moving animations.

Their movement is not visible in a PDF preview online.

HOW TO USE THIS eBOOK/POWERPOINT PRESENTATION

This is an interactive PowerPoint eBook. Please advance manually to the next screen with the [space bar] or left click

with the mouse. You can go back with the [back space key] or by right clicking. A right click will also allow you to navigate to any numbered screen.

At the bottom of some screens you will see TOCClick on that to go to the Table of Contents, where you can click to go to another section.

Do You Have The Courage To Experiment And Reveal Yourself?

Selfies & self-portraiture can be an exciting art form, but only if you are willing to break away from the traditional self-conscious smiling photograph.

Are you willing to show yourself in different moods, different clothes, situations, positions and lighting? Are you willing to experiment and push the photographic process to its limit, plus make well designed compositions? Are you willing to bare your soul? If so, then this eBook is for you.

But don't say I didn't warn you!

TABLE OF CONTENTS (TOC)

Selfies (Rick Doble) Self-Portraits (Rick Doble) Shadow Self-Portraits (Rick Doble) Xtreme Selfies & Self-Portraits (Rick Doble) Selfie Animations (Rick Doble) Processed Photographs (Rick Doble) Examples Of Selfies By Others Self-Portraits In History By Men And Women Famous Artists Who Painted Self-Portraits

JOKE: Remember every great photograph from the past was taken with

a camera older than yours.

In this eBook I will explain techniques but also follow a timeline of my own development so you can see how my work evolved while using the limited technology of the time.

An effective picture should not be judged by the technology -- otherwise many photos taken in the past would be excluded -- it should be judged by its visual impact and its ability to make the most of the technology that was available.

After 30 years in film photography, I bought my first digital camera. Many of the examples here were taken with an early lo-res Casio

camera (1998). Although primitive by today's standards, it did have a rotating lens that let me see myself as I took a selfie & also a LCD

monitor that let me review my shot instantly -- as it was the first camera with this feature. In addition it had virtually unlimited focus

(depth of field) at normal distances.

Most of the photos in this PowerPoint show were shot between 1998-2003.

I believe I was one of the first photographers to take a wide range of

selfies with a digital camera.

What Is A Selfie? A selfie is loosely defined as a photograph

taken by oneself at arm's-length or in a mirror. A self-portrait photograph is generally

considered to be with a camera that is not held by the person -- such as on a tripod -- and usually triggered by the self-timer in the camera.

This definition will probably change in the future as the technology changes. For example, a photographer can now trigger an unheld camera using a remote control.

TOC

With film photography years before, I had already begun a series of pictures in which my arms and legs were shown in the photograph. I wanted my photos to

have a different feel than the normal point of view (POV) in which the photographer stood objectively

outside, unseen and beyond the photograph. Below is one of my first digital selfies.

Something as simple as a street light coming through the window of my van created an

interesting design -- with the shadow of the gear shift knob and the bottom of the steering

wheel against my leg.

This selfie in a mirror allowed me to include a

reflection of myself and my hand along with part of my

actual hand.

By positioning myself against a bright lighted

curtain, I was able to put myself in dark shadow,

which created a silhouette.

While this photo may appear to be an almost normal selfie, you cannot see my eyes. And the top of my head disappears into the darkness. Instead you can see the

reflection of my face, on the LCD monitor, in the glasses.

Mirrors are so much fun. I found a bathroom cabinet

mirror worked perfectly, as I could adjust its angle for the right light and positioning.

I also wanted to include the environment around me -- whether it was my

house, my favorite hangout spot or the people I was with.So in this picture I

decided to cut my face almost exactly in half and fill the rest of the

photo with a view of the interior of my home.

I was also intrigued by

different light sources such as

neon. While waiting to be seated at a restaurant, I

played with the light from the

neon sign outside the eating

establishment so that it reflected in

my glasses.

Then my wife came over and spontaneously

we took a series of photos until the restaurant buzzed us that our table was

ready.

The lesson here is that you should be open to spur of the

moment, unplanned

photos which often will be

your best work.

I continued to play with neon light and the colors it created. Here I am next to a neon sign with a street

light in the background after a rain.

One particular set of neon lights created bizarre colors.

I also learned to add movement. In this shot I held the camera very steady as I turned rapidly, so that it blurred the trees and

the sky above me.

In this shot, I quickly moved the camera in the direction of the lines of brick behind me, while moving my head with the camera.

Here I combined some ideas. I included the television in my home and also the light of the TV that illuminated my face.

Some years later, with a better camera, I took this and the next photo with an 8 second shutter speed. This long exposure blurred the pictures on the TV while I kept my head as steady as possible.

Many years later, I took a series of selfies while going down the road. This one was shot with a 26 second handheld shutter speed.

The streaks behind me are houses and street lights around twilight. The white streaks on my face are light reflected in my glasses.

Experimental Self-PortraitsUsing Light Painting Techniques

TOC

While all selfies are self-portraits, not all self-portraits are selfies. 'Self-portrait' is a more general term that applies to painting, photography, drawing and even sculpture.

In photography a self-portrait that is not a selfie is usually done with the camera at a distance from the person but with that person still controlling the shot. In the past this has been achieved with the self-timer but now can be done with a remote control that triggers the camera instantly and allows for more spontaneous self-portraits.

In these experimental self-timer shots, the camera was on a table, set to an 8 sec. shutter speed and prefocused. Then I 'drew' with a

flashlight pointed toward the camera and toward my face.

I also experimented with moving my head during the long 8 sec. exposure while I lit my face and clothing with a flashlight. This

created a multiple-exposure effect.

Shadow Self-PortraitsShadows are quite intriguing as a subject.

Dual light sources, for example, will create overlapping images which create a third figure where the shadows overlap. The color of the light source at night will tint a shadow photo. Shadows also allow a photographer to work with the basic shape of the human body -- so these photos can be considered figure studies. TOC

Xtreme Selfies & Self-Portraits

Some selfies go beyond the normal photo.

Often this comes about because of experimenting or even a glitch.

TOC

Extreme underexposure but with the right overall lighting resulted in this photo which reminded me of

a German expressionist woodcut.

Glitch photograph: an extreme underexposure under odd lighting created this shot.

Moving my head with a long exposure, caused parts of my face to be 'erased' by the moving and well lit Ferris

Wheel behind me.

Many people find this photo a bit scary -- which was my intention. Extreme camera movement along with underexposure in odd lighting created this effect.

Selfie AnimationsAfter taking a number of selfie shots in

a series, I realized I could 'sandwich' several photos together into a GIF animation file that would loop endlessly. As I have written elsewhere, I believe I am the first person to make Cinemagraphs with these selfies -- as I started doing this in 1999.

TOC

These animations were made with single shots from my Casio camera that I then sandwiched together. I did almost nothing to each image, although I may have cropped some a bit so that they would sequence properly when animated. All of these were shot handheld. Yet since these images were shot this way, the stationary parts of the image may move just a bit which was my intention. I wanted to create images that pulsed with life. All of my animations looped endlessly -- because they were an attempt to depict life and living moments which are always in motion, but also often at rest at the same time.

As I wrote in the headline of my website at the time:

These animations are not mini-movies but"States of Being"

repeating animations that contain the stuff of life

More than 15 years ago these animations were on the Internet and featured and reviewed.

Featured Artist

Enculturation Website, Fall 1998http://enculturation.net/2_1/toc.html

Review of Doble's animations on the Enculturation site in 1998 by the Film-Philosophy Journal of London, England

http://www.film-philosophy.com/vol3-1999/n15martin-jones

See a complete PowerPoint presentation about these animations and the possibility that they were the first cinemagraphs

The First GIF Cinemagraphs?:Animations From 1998-2003 With an Early Casio Camera

You will see the same themes and ideas about selfies that you saw at

the beginning of this show continued and evolving in this

animation series.

I will show the next animations without comment.

TOC

Processed Photographs

Most of my work is done with photographic effects and not

computer graphics -- but at times I do like to play with my photographs

to create unusual graphic selfies.

TOC

Selfies By Other Photographers

The following contemporary selfies, made with cell phones and digital cameras, are from

commons.wikimedia.org. They are by men and women of all levels of experience and

show quite a range.

TOC

This selfie was triggered by remote control.

Self-Portraits From The Past

all images fromcommons.wikimedia.org

Starting around 1200 artists created self-portraits right up until the present day. This is

not a new art form, but one with a long and distinguished history.

There is substantial work by both men and women and also quite famous artists.

They are shown in chronological order.

TOC

Self-Portraits By Famous Artists

all images fromcommons.wikimedia.org

The next screens show self-portraits byDurer

Rembrandt and van Gogh

These artists painted a series of self-portraits that show them

as they grew older.

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