Reading Blog #1

I found the concept of self portraiture as performance to be really intriguing. Often, people attempt to give the impression of "in the moment, natural beauty" with their selfies. Though the self portraits painted often are more time laborious and intensive, they nonetheless approach the self portrait with an attempt to glamorize their appearance.

This was why Albrecht Dürer's honest depiction of his own appearance was intriguing to me. His "performance" did not lie upon the dressing up of his appearance, but rather other meaningful details that elevated his social standing.

I think I find value in both selfies and self portraiture in the more traditional sense as forms of art. While the selfie might certainly be easier, they are both forms of performance that require some consideration towards composition and lighting (at least if you were to take a "good" selfie).

I really like Frida Kahlo's style of self portraiture as well. I think she takes a unique approach to the idea of performance with her use of symbolism.

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