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Picture This
- JIG 3125
- Jul 13
- 1 min read
Self portraits vs. selfies… like them both.
—Jig3125
People love comparing things.
Old versus new.
Classic versus modern.
Art versus technology.
Somewhere in that conversation, self-portraits and selfies found themselves standing on opposite sides.
Not sure why.
A self-portrait says,
“This is how I see myself.”
A selfie says,
“This is how I saw myself right now.”
Different tools.
Same curiosity.
For centuries, artists stood in front of mirrors trying to capture their image.
Today, people pull out a phone.
Click.
Done.
The process changed.
The impulse didn’t.
Human beings have always been interested in themselves.
Not always out of vanity.
Sometimes out of wonder.
Sometimes out of documentation.
Sometimes because they’re trying to understand who they are.
Of course, a painted self-portrait feels different.
More deliberate.
More patient.
A selfie feels immediate.
A moment caught before it disappears.
One takes hours.
The other takes seconds.
Both freeze time.
Both leave evidence.
Both quietly ask the same question:
“Was I here?”
Funny.
People praise one and criticize the other.
Yet both are attempts to preserve a version of ourselves before it changes.
Picture this.
A self-portrait hanging in a museum.
A selfie sitting in a camera roll.
Both waiting for someone to look back and remember.
Like them both.
