T3| Looking Closely.

Task A.

Ashford, Peta. Kim K Brainstorm. 2016. JPEG.

 

Task B.

Cornelius, Robert. The First Light Picture Ever Taken. 1839. Daguerreotype.

The First Selfie.

Taken by amateur chemist Robert Cornelius in 1839 out the back of his family store, it is the result of daguerreotype (the process used silver-plated copper sheets, iodine, mercury, and saltwater). Cornelius removed the cap, ran to sit in front of the camera, and then ran to place the cap back on.  If her were not an amateur chemist the one-of-a-kind picture may well not exist.

Our eye is drawn to him as he is the only subject against the plain, monochromatic, background.  The lens is straight on, but because he ran around, he is slightly askew to the right.  It is obviously experimental, the product of a curious man.  When I look at the picture, I think it almost empowers him.  He looks confident, but not macho – he has a certain air about him.

I wonder if there was an intended audience, or was it just to see how it would turn out?  Today’s audience is anyone looking into the history of portrait or photography, and can be found on the World Wide Web if you ask Google nicely.  The original currently resides in the Library of Congress.

Without context, like many unexplained portraits, you would otherwise look at the frame and ask yourself “who are you.”

 

Task C.

Ashford, Peta. First Selfie Brainstorm. 2016. JPEG.

 

Task D.

How Has This Helped?

This processes has forced me to hone in to potential texts that I could use to answer my chosen question.  Furthermore it has helped me to delve into the history of photography in relation to my question, and bridge the gap between the New Era and the Industrial Revolution Era.  It helps broaden the context of self-portrait, and how we have captured ourselves over time.  Where Cornelius was experimenting with a relatively new and incredibly harmful technique in order to capture his likeness, we have the action of a selfie down to an art.

 

Texts Referenced:  http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/dagu/hd_dagu.htm

http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/robert-cornelius-self-portrait-the-first-ever-selfie-1839/

Rose, Gillian. “Visual Methodologies: A Review.” Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials. 3rd ed. London: SAGE, 2012. 346-347. Print.