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# Keeping Up With the Selfies
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/keeping-up-with-your-selfies/
- Published: 2014-04-28T11:01:44.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:44:24.000Z
- Description: LOS ANGELES — The biggest selfie news of the past week comes from drones, which have spawned a new selfie category: the dronie.
- Author: Alicia Eler
- Tags: Art, Selfies, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:03 (2014, 2015, part 1)

![Screengrab of #discosaintselfie by Peregrine Honig](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/04/discosaintselfie.png)

Screengrab of #discosaintselfie by Peregrine Honig (with the author in the middle image in the third row down)

LOS ANGELES — The biggest selfie news of the past week comes from drones, which have spawned a new selfie category: [the dronie](http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/vimeo-creates-a-drone-selfie-channel-called-dronies?ref=hyperallergic.com). To shoot them, people program their drones to take short videos of themselves that operate like extended selfies. Most dronies begin with a portrait-like shot of the person or people, then zoom up and away while guided by remote control.

Also last week, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden [jumped into a selfie together](http://instagram.com/p/m3z66SlwW4/?ref=hyperallergic.com) — one that, due to the long-arm angle, makes both of their teeth look very large. This image comes from [Biden’s new Instagram account](http://instagram.com/vp?ref=hyperallergic.com), which only contains seven photographs so far, with this one boasting the most likes, at about 55K. As I’ve [said before](http://hyperallergic.com/94461/theory-of-the-selfie/), the selfie is where we become our own biggest fans and private paparazzi — and Obama and Biden are no exception to this rule. The phenomenon isn’t specific to American politicians, however; Indian politician Narendra Modi, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), recently [took a selfie](http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/04/22/narendra-modi-joins-selfie-movement/?ref=hyperallergic.com), and so did [President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda](http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/654798-president-museveni-selfie-goes-viral.html?ref=hyperallergic.com), who shot his with a Samsung Galaxy. Was his selfie [corporate-sponsored](https://hyperallergic.com/the-academy-award-goes-to-the-corporate-selfie/), too?

In the world of celebrity selfies, German photographer Jonas Unger [debuted his new exhibition](http://bullettmedia.com/article/german-photographer-makes-art-celebrity-selfies-finally/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *Autoportraits* in Paris, in which celebs and fashionistas like Karl Lagerfeld, Karolina Kurkova, Jean-Paul Gauthier, and David Lynch use an analogue camera to take pictures of themselves. By certain standards these are not selfies, because they aren’t shot with a smartphone camera or uploaded to a social media site. But they are self-portraits shot in what is now known as the selfie aesthetic — that long-arm position, gazing at the camera, a private moment made public. Except the [gazes in these photographs](http://www.galeriederouillon.com/JONAS-UNGER-AUTOPORTRAITS?ref=hyperallergic.com) are different — in the real selfie, we see an off-kilter look that often signifies the shooter seeing themselves in a smartphone mirror as they’re taking the photograph. The real selfie gaze is captured in the work of artist Peregrine Honig, whose painting/Instaperformance “[#discosaintselfie](http://web.stagram.com/tag/discosaintselfie?ref=hyperallergic.com)” (2014), a part of the exhibition [*The Stench of Rotting Flowers*](http://www.charlottestreet.org/2014/03/the-stench-of-rotting-flowers/?ref=hyperallergic.com)at Charlotte Street Foundation’s La Esquina Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri, gave people an elaborate backdrop for shooting their own selfies — a chance to be in the disco-ball spotlight both in the moment and forever.

A new hashtag on Instagram, called [#aftersexselfies](http://www.salon.com/2014/04/17/stop%5Fpublicly%5Fshaming%5Fthe%5Faftersex%5Fselfie%5Ftakers/?ref=hyperallergic.com), puts people in a very different type of selfie spotlight. Here people decide to share that thrilling just-had-sex (and hopefully just had great orgasms!) moment to social media for all to see. Is it shameful? No! This type of sharing is a personal choice.

In monetizing selfie news, a man named Jared Frank was taking a selfie too close to a train in Peru when the conductor [kicked him in the head](http://bgr.com/2014/04/16/man-gets-kicked-in-head-by-train-conductor/?ref=hyperallergic.com). Now, with some 27 million views and counting on the [video of the incident](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy8Yt-P614w&ref=hyperallergic.com), Frank signed with California-based Jukin Media to monetize the video after they told him he could earn “in the range of $2 to $16 per 1,000 views and he would get 70 per cent share,” according to [CBC News Saskatchewan](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/jared-frank-poised-to-earn-big-bucks-from-kick-in-the-head-video-1.2617033?ref=hyperallergic.com). At least this young man’s selfie is bringing in some capital.

Another selfie makes its way into a headline today, and the same will be true tomorrow. Now Jim Romanesko [reports](http://jimromenesko.com/2014/04/24/reporter-stories-on-selfies-have-their-place-but-not-on-my-front-page/?ref=hyperallergic.com) that Civitas Media, which owns 35 newspapers across the country, will be running a selfie package in each one. The insert will feature a skeleton story of the week with space for filling in localized news, submissions from readers, a brief history of the selfie, and more about how to take a selfie. Naturally, one journalist proclaimed that selfies have no place on his front page and called the whole thing “belittling” to his readers. But it doesn’t matter what he says — [all the pretty selfies are here to stay](http://hyperallergic.com/97441/all-the-pretty-selfies-are-here-to-stay/).

Here are five takes on the selfie from artists and writers in Illinois, California, New York, and Poland.

## Stacy Jill Calvert

![Stacy Jill Calvert's selfie in New Orleans](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/04/stacy.jpg)

Stacy Jill Calvert’s selfie in New Orleans

*Occupation:* [*Artist*](http://www.stacyjillcalvert.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)  
*Location: Carbondale, Illinois*

“This was taken in January, when my wife and I took a trip via train to New Orleans. We stayed in a B&B that felt like we were characters inside a fairy tale. This mirror was outside our bedroom and reminded me slightly of the mirror from Snow White. Of course I don’t see myself as a wicked witch. :)”

## Victor Angelo

![Victor Angelo's selfie](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/04/selfie_victor-angelo.jpg)

Victor Angelo’s selfie

*Occupation: Artist* 
*Location: La Jolla, California*

“My [Facebook profile pic](https://www.facebook.com/artemoderna) is the epitome of selfie in every way. It contains personal favorite things: pet alligator, car, skateboard, treasured painting from private art collection. Wearing fave pair of shoes and swimming shorts. Taken while listening to fave music. Also contains 3D conceptual self-portrait painting representing the journey of my life. Shot in the most personal space of an artist (the studio), a place for contemplation, music, thinking, skating, creating art.”

## Cezary Koralewski

![TK in Warsaw](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/04/zrzut-ekranu-2014-04-01-o-13-51-02.png)

Cezary Koralewski’s selfie

*Occupation: Journalist* 
*Location: Warsaw, Poland*

“This morning when I found a huge magnifying glass in my grandparents’ bathroom, I just couldn’t help snapping it. I love how surreal the selfie is: one eye, pajamas, and a yellow square. It was enough to leave it unfiltered.”

## Romy Scheroder

![Romy Schroeder's selfie](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/04/romy_img_2235.jpg)

Romy Scheroder’s selfie

*Occupation: Visual artist* 
*Location: BushRidge (aka Ridgewood at the edge of Bushwick)*

“Taking a photo of yourself seems bold, narcissistic, self-involved, so they say (?). I think it’s more like having a bit of fun — why not?! This project, *SubwaySelfie* (2013), started because I hate being photographed, but I like the idea of performative art and saw elements of the subway posters I could interact with by capturing me in a silly moment. A moment that folks (public in realtime and friends via FB postings) would not expect of me — but what they have not realized is that in my secret-reserved-self there lies a cheeky funny-girl. This project was only posted to FB and received a bizarre number of ‘likes,’ more than my artwork tended to get. Ahhhh whattodo! So I kept doing them … setting up rules to help keep it from getting out of control and a project I could enjoy.”

## Kate McGraw

![Kate McGraw's infinite bathroom selfie](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2014/04/mcgraw_bathroomseflie.jpg)

Kate McGraw’s infinite bathroom selfie

*Occupation:* [*Artist*](http://www.katemcgraw.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)  
*Location: Brooklyn*

“This is my ‘infinite self’ bathroom selfie. I don’t understand why the phone, bathroom, and mirror often come together in most of the glamorous selfies out there, so I gave it a try on my own terms by being decidedly unglamorous and flipping my phone around, screen face out. I was pleased with the results and, BAM, it became an [Instagram](http://instagram.com/p/ir8zeiMDcw/?ref=hyperallergic.com). Also, I was delighted to find an antiquated form of the bathroom selfie lurking behind me — one of my old paintings of a bathroom.”

\* \* \*

*Email Hyperallergic your selfie at selfies \[at\] hyperallergic.com, along with a brief explanation of why you shot it and what it means to you.*