Sophia Loren (self portrait?)
These are not selfies!
They are self-portraits, with the exception that some are just photographs of photographers with cameras – or wait, actually some are just photographs of people in general with cameras.
There are also instances where the camera is just a prop.
Can a photographer direct another person how to do a shot of the photographer and have the photographer still call it a self-portrait? Or must it be from the purist’s point of view in that a self-portrait is a matter of using a cable release, a self-timer, or a mirror or some sort of reflecting surface. (I’ve done them all!)
Some artists are known for their self-portraits – like Cindy Sherman.
Untitled #96, Cindy Sherman, 1981 … the self portrait that fetched $3.89 million
$3.89 million
I have done tons of self-portraits – whole portfolios of them ………… none of mine sold for $3.89 million. In fact, none sold at all.
This would be such a better post if I identified every camera in every shot. But, I didn’t.
This is a very long post even with editing. It is an infinite subject …………….
I hope you enjoy. Feel free to comment!
Self Portrait, Jan Saudek
Self Portrait, NY, 1978, Arthur Elgort
Self Portrait, Paris, 1981, Helmut Newton (with his wife, June, a/k/a Alice Springs, and models)
Self Portrait, Yousuf Karsh
Self Portrait, Noell Oszaid
Self Portrait, “The Invisible Man, Harlem”, New York, 1952, Gordon Parks
Self Portrait, Irving Penn
Self Portrait, Jeanloup Sieff
Self Portrait (for the Lavazza Calendar), 2012, Mark Seliger
Self Portrait (for the Lavazza Calendar), 2012, Thierry Le Gouès
Self Portrait, 1932, Man Ray
Self Portrait, 1927, André Kertész
Self Portrait with Marilyn Monroe, Bert Stern
Self Portrait, Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir
Self Portrait, Robert Doisneau
Self Portrait, Charles “Teenie” Harris (prolific photographer for 40 years with the Pittsburgh Courier)
Self Portrait, Monument Valley, Utah, 1958, Ansel Adams
Self Portrait, 1950, Weegee
Self Portrait, 1950s, Bunny Yeager
Self Portrait, Bunny Yeager
Self Portrait, Paris, 1937, Erwin Blumenfeld
Self Portrait, 1965, Ezra Stoller
Alfred Eisenstaedt (Photographer Unknown – unsure if self-portrait)
Diane Arbus, Photo: Roz Kelly
La petite Monique, 1934, Photo: Robert Doisneau
James Dean with a Rolleiflex, Photo: Roy Schatt
The Supremes (Photographer Unknown)
Robert Plant & Jimmy Page (Photographer Unknown)
Stevie Nicks (Photographer Unknown)
Drew Barrymore (Photographer Unknown)
Elizabeth Taylor (Photographer Unknown)
Frank Sinatra and Grace Kelly with a Hasselblad (Photographer Unknown)
George Harrison with a Nikon F, Kodak Retina I, and Rolleiflex (Photographer Unknown)
Richard Avedon, 1966, Photo: Jacques-Henri Lartigue
Debbie Harry (Photographer Unknown)
Jacqueline “Jackie” (Bouvier) Kennedy Onassis (Photographer Unknown)
Queen Elizabeth (Photographer Unknown)
Sharon Stone, Photo: Michel Comte
Angelina Jolie, Photo: Alexei Hay
Mick Jagger (Photographer Unknown)
Henri Cartier-Bresson, Photo: Jane Brown
Sebastião Salgado (Photographer Unknown)
Kate Moss with a Holga (Photographer Unknown)
Brad Pitt (Photographer Unknown)
Marilyn Monroe, Photo: Bert Stern
Michael Jackson (Photographer Unknown)
Sean Connery photographing Brigitte Bardot, Photo: Terry O’Neill
Robert Capa, Segovia Front, Spain, 1937, Photo: Gerda Taro
Magnum Photographers (Photographer Unknown)
Probably my favorite of them all, this vintage photograph of a little boy with his camera (Photographer Unknown)
These are great. My personal favorite is Noell Oszaid’s Self Portrait, I assume it is photoshopped (if not I would certainly like to know more about it). I also appreciate the distinction between selfies and self-portraits. Selfies mostly seem to have that short-armed, heavily narcissistic, indulgent and slightly out of touch style. Coincidentally, I shot a self portrait (very unusual for me), just a few days before I read this blog, and was actually pleased with it.
Thank you, Sandy! I agree – your assessment of “selfie” has the right adjectives. But, even with a self-portrait, I suppose it might have that narcissistic motivation, but sometimes it is just to document yourself in the way you see yourself, sometimes for posterity (do that all the time) and sometimes because you simply have no model and have to step in.
Actually, I want to amend what I wrote in previous comment – I think the word I was looking for was vanity not so much narcissism.