Self Portrait V.S the Selfie

I don't think the selfie is comparable to a self portrait. Hours of work and focus go into perfecting these paintings and saying that a snap of a blurry snapchat picture is as artful as the hours of painting and precision it takes to create these. I can understand the comparison in the process of taking a picture, or capturing an image of yourself, but saying that they're the same is demoting all the hard work people spend on these paintings.

While selfies may not be the equivalent of self portraits, they have helped break the usually non diverse spread of self portraits that are apparent in museums and other galleries. In many museums it's easy to see the usual portrait is a of a white male, and with the social media trend of selfies, men and women of different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, cultures, and parts of the world can express themselves in a modern version of the self portrait.

In another way, selfies are the new contemporary art and photography step into the future. Usually the wealthy and privileged were the only ones who could afford to have self portraits made of themselves, and now we can recreate that in a new way with a tap of a button. These new selfies aren't comparable to self portraits in the sense of artistry and dedication, but can be a new and modern way for people to share and express themselves in a way that similar to self portraits.