The Year in Selfies 2015

The Year in Selfies 2015

Love them or hate them, the selfie’s cultural impact and visibility is still as strong as ever. Compared to last year, we’ve seen a relative maturation of the genre with selfie sticks dominating the first half of the year (followed by the inevitable backlash), combined with the inevitable stories of selfies gone awry. Whether macabre, narcissistic or fun, the selfie never fails to elicit a strong reaction. And now for your viewing pleasure, the year in selfies.

JANUARY

The Washington Post reported that a London college was offering a course in taking selfies. To be more specific, “Art of Self-Portraiture” is “a theory/practice introduction to photographic self-portraiture.”

As reported in the scientific journal Personality and Individual Differences, men who share many selfies online tend to be more narcissistic. Ohio State University professor Jesse Fox, who led the study, stated, “The more interesting finding is that they also score higher on this other anti-social personality trait, psychopathy, and are more prone to self-objectification.”

Miss Lebanon, Saly Greige, got in hot water on social media when a selfie taken by Miss Israel, Doron Matalon, was posted to her Instagram account. An Israeli airstrike had killed Hezbollah fighters near the time of the post, and Hezbollah loyalists accused Greige of cavorting with the enemy. Photo as weapon?

Miss Israel, Doron Matalon, poses with Miss Lebanon, Saly Greige, in Matalon's Instagram feed.

Miss Israel, Doron Matalon, poses with Miss Lebanon, Saly Greige, in Matalon’s Instagram feed.

FEBRUARY

Rayban launched the Reflection app for iPhone which combines the front and rear cameras to create a double exposure image.

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Federal aviation officials determined that a pilot crashed a single-engine Cessna 150 with his passenger while taking selfies. An NTSB report stated, “It is likely that cellphone use during the accident flight distracted the pilot and contributed to the development of spatial disorientation and subsequent loss of control.”

In the first of many statements by museums around the world, a Museum of Modern Art rep told gothamist.com, “For the safety of our visitors and the Museum’s works of art, we don’t permit visitors to take photos with any camera-extension devices.” Also: the Guggenheim, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and Washington’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

As if to prove that the selfie stick had jumped the shark, a Doom video game mod allowed users to alter their first person view to a selfie mode. The mod name? InstaDoom.

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Selfies aren’t just for humans. Mars Curiosity sent back a stitched selfie at its new Martian research site Mojave.

MARCH

A gas explosion that took down three buildings in Manhattan’s East Village became the unfortunate scene of tragedy selfies to the disgust of many. Two men were killed, and the explosion sparked a seven alarm fire.

Following bans by museums, music festivals thankfully started banning the selfie stick including Coachella and Lollapalooza. God forbid you actually have to watch and enjoy the show!

The New York Times reported that a number of hotels were embracing the selfie as an effective marketing tool. At the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, guests can opt for the “Your Spring Selfie” package complete with selfie stick and a map of scenic selfie spots.

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APRIL

April Fools! New York-based shoe store Miz Mooz created a promotional video highlighting their “selfie shoes.” It’s as ridiculous as it sounds.

On the other hand, I kind of wish I could by Motorola’s artisanal selfie stick.

A quokka is a small marsupial found in Western Australia. They are cute and fuzzy, and it’s illegal for people to handle them. But that hasn’t stopped tourists from taking quokka selfies.

The Kentucky Derby banned re-entry, drones, and (you guessed it) selfie sticks. Social network developer Path released a selfie social network called Kong. Users could enter various channels (e.g. #spin) and post ridiculous selfies. It was really fun, but apparently not very sticky! By year’s end, the app had already pivoted to a “group gif chat.” Dying to replicate those cool “follow me” shots like @muradosmann, but lacking an attractive counterpart? Here comes the Selfie Arm to the rescue.

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MAY

On The New York Times parenting blog, writer Veronica Arreola suggested taking a selfie with mom for a Mother’s Day gift. After her mother passed, she lamented, “But while I found plenty of photos of myself that I had forgotten existed, I found relatively few of my mother either by herself or with me.” Pizza Hut created a PSA to warn of the dangers of the selfie stick.

The Unicode Consortium released a list of 38 emojis, including a selfie emoji, for potential inclusion in Unicode 9.0. Will it make the cut? Stay tuned for the June 2016 release.

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Since the stabbing of tennis star Monica Seles in 1993, tennis players haven’t been so excited about fans rushing the court. Roger Federer was less than amused at this year’s French Open when a young fan eluded security to snap a selfie with him. It’s not every day that you get to ride in a U-2 spy plane. But photographer and entrepreneur Christopher Michel did just that and has the selfie to prove it. But did he have to go through TSA?

It’s not just movie stars who are taking selfies at live events. After winning the NBA’s Eastern Conference Final, JR Smith took a selfie at the podium with Lebron James and Tristan Thompson.

I didn’t know Most Selfies in 3 Minutes was a thing, but who better to set the World Record than Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at the San Andreas movie premiere. But with only 105 selfies, The Rock’s record is likely to crumble soon. *rimshot* JUNE After setting the World Record for most people doing the Michael Jackson Thriller dance (13,597 people smashing the previous record of 242 people), Mexico City was ready for bigger things. In June, the city primed itself for the world’s biggest selfie.

JULY

Presidential candidates are used to stump speeches and working the rope line, but now voters want selfies with their potential candidates. From Hillary to Rand to The Donald, candidates trying to appear in tune with a younger generation pose for selfies without really knowing how an image might be used in social media. Freelance photojournalist Brad Zucroff also captured the role of the campaign selfie while on the campaign trail.

Of course Android had it for a while, but when Apple announced that the new iOS9 would include a selfie folder (any images taken with the front-facing camera would automatically appear in this folder), it made news.

Selfies can be hazardous to your health and the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs is concerned. That’s why they launched a new “Safe Selfies” website complete with infographics like “don’t use a selfie stick in lightning” or “don’t take a selfie with a wild animal.” The Russian government might be more known in the west for their propaganda, but this is sound advice in any country.

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Photographer Luisa Dorr and artist Navin Kala are one of many artists to explore the current obsession with selfies through a photographic series entitled The Self Promenade. Perched on the Avenue of the Stars in Hong Kong, the artists captured a desaturated world of old and young trying to capture themselves in an iconic location.

Quokkas can be violent, but at least they aren’t venomous. A man trying to take a selfie with a rattlesnake learned that snakes liked to be asked first. According to the Huffington Post, the picture stunt depleted the anti-venom supplies of two local hospitals and generated a bill of services for $153,161.25.

Not to be outdone by a reptile, a bison attacked a 43-year old woman and her six-year-old daughter who were trying to surreptitiously snap a selfie in Yellowstone National Park. The Washington Post reports the woman was a mere six yards away when the bison attacked and “tossed in the air.” This follows a May 15 incident when a Taiwanese exchange student was gored in the buttocks while taking a selfie at close distance. Park rules state that humans should maintain a minimum distance of 25 yards.

To be a selfie requires the subject to be holding the camera – otherwise it’s just a self portrait. But I’ll make an exception for Renee Lusano’s dronies.

And Eric Cheng’s version reminds me of a Richard Misrach photo.

AUGUST

Journalist Kate Murphy gets deep into the psychology of the selfie. Quoting Ohio State University Professor Jesse Fox, “People forget that narcissism is not just about being an egomaniac – it’s also driven by underlying insecurity. They need to get ‘likes’ to get validation.” Murphy goes further to warn that in a world of increasingly powerful facial recognition, selfie takers might be giving away their identity. “You can change your name and Social Security number but you can’t change your face,” said Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney Jennifer Lynch. Why buy a selfie stick when you can DIY using a Slim Jim, clothes hangers, or an old tree branch?

We’ve seen the bookshelfie, funeral selfie, and the XXX. Why not the Arrest Selfie? Gilbert Phelps was pulled over for speeding, and according to the police report, “During the testing process the defendant requested to take a SnapChat selfie with me to which I happily obliged.” 1379528153591532617 Richard Prince appropriated stole other people’s Instagram photos in the name of art ($100,000 art, mind you). And the start-up Sellfie.co decided to get in the act by allowing you to purchase any image on Instagram with the hashtag #selfie for $150 without the photographer’s permission. The Internet was outraged, which might have contributed to the site’s quick demise. It ain’t easy to get the perfect selfie.

Many states have laws to protect voter secrecy – laws which are being challenged by the so-called “ballot selfie,” which proponents are describing as a First Amendment right. The original secrecy laws were instituted, in large part, to combat “flagrant vote-buying and intimidation of the 19th century in America,” according to William M. Gardner, the secretary of state of New Hampshire. But times have changed, and I say show ‘em you exercised your civic duty to vote!

SEPTEMBER

Irrespective of your position on gun ownership, we can all agree that posing with a loaded gun for a gun selfie isn’t a good idea. Tragedy unfolded in Houston when a 19-year-old man died after accidentally shooting himself in the throat. Not every relationship ends acrimoniously as the #divorceselfies prove. Couples are sharing the demise of their relationship to celebrate a new chapter in life – turning lemons into lemonade, er, or something like that.

Without more than a title and a note indicating that the photos were taken in a single hour, Gary He showed The Quiet Dignity of The Tourist at The 9/11 Memorial.

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Why Do People Take Selfies in Emergencies?  It might be narcissism, but it might also be a coping mechanism. According to Susan Krauss Whitbourne, professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, “I think it’s related to this idea that when your mortality salience is heightened, you seek to preserve and protect your identity.”

In the Information Age, nobody is saying that we shouldn’t take seriously the issue of teens taking nude photos of themselves, but on the other hand, do we really need to prosecute a North Carolina teen for having nude pictures of himself and potentially label him as a sex offender?

Attention: Selfies cause more deaths than shark attacks.

OCTOBER

A group of Alpha Chi Omega sorority sisters from Arizona State University raised the ire of the Internet when a video of them preening for selfies at an Arizona Diamondbacks baseball game went viral. Initially harangued by the commentators and the public at large, the outrage became more subdued when it was revealed that the announcers had encouraged attendees to take a selfie. When the Diamondback offered the girls tickets for the next game for the mockery, they declined and asked the team to donate the tickets to families of domestic violence.

But first… let us take (lots and lots and LOTS) of selfies.FULL VIDEO: http://bit.ly/1VqCyv9

Posted by 120 Sports on Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Have you run out of ideas for spending more money on your wedding. Designer Reem Acra unveiled a $500 Swarovski-covered selfie stick (paired with crystal covered headphones) during her 2016 bridal show.

The selfie stick is most commonly used with a cameraphone, but why limit yourself to such a lightweight device? Jesse Chehak decided to make a selfie stick for a large format 4×5 Graflex press camera and posted the humorous results on Instagram. Oh now I remember why we don’t do this: 1) they don’t make Type 55 film anymore, 2) you can’t remotely focus, 3) it’s really heavy.

NOVEMBER

In the Philippines, stick fighting is a form martial arts that has been practiced for generations. But there’s nothing inherently special about the sticks that they couldn’t be replaced with, say, a selfie stick. In a moment of cultural appropriation, a Russian martial arts academy is offering a new course on how to use a selfie stick as a weapon.

The Japanese definitely know how to take the selfie to new heights. Literally. Omocoro staffer, Mansoon, created a selfie arm that would make Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, proud.

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The weird gets weirder. PETA has filed a federal lawsuit against photographer David Slater along with the makers of book publishing software on behalf of the Naruto, the so-called “Monkey Selfie” macaque for ownership of the copyright. But non-human actors can’t hold copyright, and the photo was taken in Indonesia so what’s the point of filing in U.S. District Court? Somehow I don’t think Naruto really cares…

New rule: If you save a bald eagle from a hunter’s trap, you can take a selfie. Canadian brothers Michael and Neil Fletcher came upon a trapped bald eagle while hunting, and after calming the bird, they set it free – but not before taking a quick selfie.

A Sikh man’s selfie was Photoshopped to appear he was wearing a suicide vest and holding a Koran. The photo was then posted to social media in the aftermath of the Paris bombing where he was erroneously identified as a terrorist. Sikhs are not Muslim. All Muslim are not terrorists. And implicating an innocent person as such is a horrible, horrible thing to do.

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DECEMBER

A man who took a selfie after strangling his girlfriend to death plead guilty to second degree murder with intent to kill and received a 30-year prison sentence.

14-year old Ryan Wiggins used a selfie stick to create an anti-bullying video entitled “Tomorrow” based on his first hand experiences as a teenager with Asperger Syndrome – an autism spectrum disorder that make social interaction incredibly difficult for the afflicted. Selfies used for good? We can get behind that.

 

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This article was written by

Allen Murabayashi is the co-founder of PhotoShelter.

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