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In this article Van Dick discusses how recent technological, social, and cultural transformations have facilitated an evolution in the role of digital photography, commenting on the increasing need for an individual to form a sense of self-identity and to communicate within a public sphere. He argues that memory still reappears as an important function within personal photography, if not remaining its core function, despite these trends.
The article takes a comparative approach, beginning with a review on the use of photography In the analogue age as a means for sentimental remembering, before discussing how new digital technologies are used for shaping both identity and memory. Van Dick does not believe that digital technologies have at all eliminated a camera’s ability to create and store memory, rather it ‘reappears’ instead in deferent forms through the broader distribution and virtual storage of digital photography in contemporary society.
The article provides fresh and well-argued perspectives on identity formation with digital technologies, Hellenizing existing arguments that claim dilatation Is causing the trend of increasing Identity expression and communication In photography. Instead Van Del]KC purports that the fusion of “photography with daily experience and communication” is the leading cause for this trend, presenting room for new discussion within literature on digital media usage.
His exploration of concepts such as control and the idealizes self are comprehensive and well referenced with a variety of sources, displaying a level of research and objective analysis that proves reliable. The article’s AOL of analyzing changes In personal photography Is achieved through Its detailed inspection of developments In the digital media environment, making It a well-suited piece for those interested in broadening their understanding of the ever-changing field of personal photography. Pausing, B 2013, ‘Become an Image.
On Selfless, Visually and The Visual Turn in Social Medias’, Digital Visually. In a digital age where self-portraits and selfless are flourishing Pausing provides a complete overview of the selfish genre and its sub-genres, presenting us with several ideas regarding reflection, identity and recognition. He discusses the process of self- expression and clarification in personal photography such that photography becomes a way of depicting the self, creating a mirror-like reflection and enabling the concept of memory different to those mentioned in other readings and that is recognition.
What isn’t explicitly explored in this article is how the recognition of repeated features that one emphasizes in their self-portraits forms the memory of one’s constructed identity. In this way the article leaves much more room for discussion into the act of shaping memory through calculated expressions of identity. Pausing also provides more discussion into the selfish as tool for interacting with the social environment, whereby through selfless we have the opportunity to evaluate the relations of others to ourselves.
Similar to Van Dick, Pausing also covers concepts of control and identity expression but also touches on a new concept regarding self- consciousness. When taking a selfless the process of clarification separates us from other human beings and from other species because we become unique through our self-construction and individualistic. In addition to acquiring consciousness, selfish aging also involves seeking acceptance and adequacy, an urge that is not necessarily as narcissistic as it is biological.
Through this discussion Pausing is able to provide insights to selfish culture through psychoanalytical frameworks affording a humanistic perspective of personal photography. This is due in part to his research relying more heavily on resources from books and Journals such as ‘Perspectives on Psychological Science’. It is also interesting to note that in this article Pausing attributes the emergence of the selfish culture to ‘distinct changes in technology which is in direct opposition to Van Duck’s claim that digitization has not been the sole reason for the shifts in personal photography.
Carter, M, Gibbs, M, Cohn, T, Manse, B 2014, ‘Selfless at Funerals: Remediation Rituals of Mourning’, Association of Internet Researchers Conference. ‘Sawflies at Funerals’ surveys a variety of reactions and responses to personal photography use at funerals and memorial services. The various responses included condemnation, understanding, empathy, fury, defense and criticism among others. The authors argue that the varying reactions reveal a public negotiation between acceptable or appropriate online digital media uses and those that are not.
Included in these negotiations, and central to the debate, are recent developments in self- expression and reflection in personal photography, conflicting with traditional mourning routines. The article provides instances where commentators have viewed selfless as narcissistic, gratuitous, and selfish, which comments on the way personal photography is sometimes being perceived and how the image or identity is being portrayed.
The use of selfless as an outlet for grief and to express mourning could be estimated through the increase in social acceptance and scholarship on the way personal digital media forms are being used increasingly for expression and reflection. However these public negotiations show that the use of digital media for self-expression is resisting acceptance of legitimacy within contemporary society. On the other side, the defenders of selfish-takers include those who accept the existence of varying manifestations of grief, challenging those who place narrow constraints on mourning processes.
An interesting Justification for personal photography provided n the article is for the purpose of recording memories. This is a concept touched on a tool for retaining and storing memory. The authors of this article have chosen a particularly relevant and dynamic case study, that is, personal photography use at funerals, as their framework to convey the dynamic negotiation that has occurred in establishing legitimacy in personal digital media usage. The broad range of surveyed reactions and the controversial nature of selfless-takers at funerals ensured their case study was predominantly useful in demonstrating their aim.