The mirror gave birth to an obsession with image, and with it an outbreak of human vanity that has never receded.
“This is me? This is how I appear to others?” our 17th century ancestors asked themselves, peering into the looking glass and for the first time contemplating the image that they presented to the rest of the world. The new advances in mirror technology proved frightening, fascinating and transformational. It may be hard to understand the impact today, but they forever altered how people thought of themselves. With the mirror, our personal image became something that could be — and thus would be — manipulated.
Today, four centuries later, personal technology has given that instinct for vanity and self-reflection yet another outlet, this time through the “selfie.” The self-taken photograph, the downfall of Anthony Weiner and Atlanta’s own Bishop Eddie Long, has now been celebrated as the Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of The Year for 2013.
In Oxford’s explanation for its decision, it notes that use of the word “selfie” multiplied 12-fold in the media from January to October, a fact that helped to convince editors to make the word their unanimous choice. But the decision hardly needed statistical validation. We live in a world in which corporations are people and people have become brands and the old-fashioned concept of reputation has been replaced by “personal brand management.” For those in social media, what was deemed exhibitionist in previous generations is now embraced as best practices. The “selfie” is its perfect embodiment.
Based on evidence provided by others — I am not and will not be a practitioner myself — the selfie apparently occurs in two classic modes: In the first, generally more harmless version, the camera or smartphone is held extended at arm’s length, aimed backward toward the user; in the second, more dangerous version, the camera is pointed into a bathroom or bedroom mirror, where too often what ought to be kept private is taken public. There are no closed doors on the Internet.
Lest we be too harsh on ourselves, it’s important to note that this fascination with ourselves isn’t unique to our time and place. Rembrandt, for example, was his own favorite model. With accurate mirrors suddenly widely available, the 17th century Dutchman painted or drew almost 100 “selfies,” capturing his transition from a youth of 22 through to his final days as a prosperous old man of 63. Likewise, Vincent Van Gogh stared into the mirror for countless hours, documenting his descent into madness in dozens of works, right down to “Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear.”
However, with the holidays upon us, it seems appropriate to highlight a third form of the genre, what you might call a “group selfie.” Families are gathering from across the country and across generations, and at some point in the day’s festivities, someone will march first into the TV room to roust those who have settled in front of a football game, and then into the kitchen to evict its inhabitants, until all attendees are poked and prodded into place for a group photo of the assemblage. Set the timer, run back into position, and smile!
In our own extended family gathering, we’re at that phase in the generational shift when the children of recent yesteryears are emerging into young adulthood, but not yet so far as to produce children of their own. The nephews that sat in laps not that long ago will gloat that this is the year that they finally get to stand in the back row, with the tall people, where they will now tower over their uncles.
Like Rembrandt’s work, over time the accumulation of photographs become a historical record of the extended family, evidence of weddings and divorces, births and deaths and other comings and goings.
Those pictures speak not of “me” but of “us,” not of isolation but of membership. It is a way of proclaiming that “these are my people, this is who we are,” and there’s something fine and strong in that.
