In the article Digital photography:communication, identity, and memory, Jose Van Dijick talks about digital photography and the way it allows us to create an identity rather than look back on one. The article focuses on the difference between analogue and digital photography. Van Dijick argues that analogue photography was about looking back and remembering who we were, where as digital is about creating who we are.
This concept made me think of selfies. Selfies are pictures we take of ourselves by ourselves. The selfie also relates to Van Dijick's idea that digital photography gives us more control. "When a picture is taken, we want those photographs to match our idealized self-image -- flattering, without pimples, happy, attractive -- so we attempt to influence the process by posing, smiling, or giving instructions to the photographer," wrote Van Dijick (64). We are constantly trying to control the way others see us, and we often do this through digital photography. With selfies, there are many people who take dozens and dozens of pictures of themselves just to make sure they are sending the right image to their peers. It is a way for them to document their appearance at a specific time in their lives as well as get attention from others.
This is an interesting way of seeing because it not only involves how others see us, but how we see ourselves.
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