April 2021

Is the Selfie Yesterday’s News?

Get the perfect photo of yourself with photography offers from Venture Studios

Love them or hate them, selfies have become very much part of our everyday lives over the last few years.

For starters, social media is full of selfie images, some rather better than others. Some selfies can be interesting, for example iconic backgrounds, special events or friends at a reunion. But many selfies seem to consist merely of people practising the latest pose, be it the duck face, the fish gape, or the smize. The resulting images can then be filtered and edited to create the final image of choice.

Stranger still is the gradual social acceptance that it is completely normal to see someone taking a photo of themselves anywhere and everywhere. Sometimes aided and abetted with gadgets such as a selfie stick. At times it seems that everything else has to wait whilst an all-important selfie is taken.

But where did selfies come from? How did the trend start? And have selfies had their day?

Five fun facts about selfies

• • The word selfie is thought to have first been used on an Australian online forum in 2002. A photo was posted from a drunken party incident with the accompanying words ”Sorry about the focus, it was a selfie”.

• • The word selfie now features in all major dictionaries. In 2013 it was named word of the year by the Oxford English Dictionary – beating olinguito (a newly discovered mammal) and twerk to the top slot – after the frequency of its use soared by 17,000%.

• • The most famous selfie ever is thought to have been taken by Ellen DeGeneres when she hosted the Oscars in 2014. The image captured a host of stars including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Jared Leto, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong’o, Kevin Spacey, Channing Tatum and others to become the most star-studded selfie in history.

• • The average person supposedly takes over 450 selfies every year, with men taking more than women.

• There is an interactive Museum of Selfies in Los Angeles, and also National Selfie Day, on June 21st. Who knew?

Has the selfie had its day?

Now that selfies are established in our culture, they are unlikely to go away altogether. However, like any trend, there are signs that selfies are losing impetus. Interestingly, many celebrities including Kim Kardashian – who once released a coffee table book of selfies – are concluding that the selfie has had its day. This view is supported by data from Google Trends, which shows a steady decline in the keyword since 2013.

The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly helped to put the brakes on selfies. The limitations on travel, social gatherings and family events has taken away the contextual impetus for selfies. Let’s face it; there are only so many shots of “me in my bedroom / living room / kitchen / garden” that even the most ardent selfie taker can produce.

But some of the decline in selfie-taking may also be due to the growing realisation that obsession with selfies is not healthy, and represents an illusion of life rather than a reality. Selfies enable us to transform ourselves into whoever we want to be. But the resulting images can lack the intimacy and natural feel of a well-taken shot by an expert photographer. In that respect, they can be soulless.

What is the best alternative to a selfie?

Photography is a wonderful tool for capturing the key moments of your life. But some of those key moments deserve much more than a selfie. Especially in these exciting times when we are able to start meeting together again with family and friends, and catching up on all those milestones that we have missed.

So you want some beautiful photographs that will help you to celebrate together and relive the moment again and again for years to come, why not take advantage of Venture Studios Together Again premium photography experiences at 40% off normal price.

These photography experiences give you a wonderful opportunity to get your loved ones together for a fun one hour photo shoot. You can then enjoy viewing the resulting images and choose your favourite image to take away in one of our fabulous frames.

For the best photos of your life in 2021, forget the selfie and let Venture Studios make the magic happen. Our Together Again offers are running till the end of May, so why not get your Venture Together Again photography experience booked now?

We look forward to welcoming you to your nearest Venture Studios very soon. Meanwhile, do check back here regularly for the latest news and offers from Venture Studios.

Image source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ellen-degeneres-selfie-oscars_n_4887419