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Interfacing the Self: Smartphone Snaps and the Temporality of the Selfie

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Abstract

Selfies have been extensively discussed as a mode of self-representation or self-exposure but little has been written about the dispositif of media usage within which selfie practices take place. This chapter therefore stresses the crucial role of the smartphone by shifting the attention to the surfaces that are used to generate selfies. Rather than considering selfies as single images, the chapter describes them as photographic interface practices and examines them as specific relations between user and technological device. The chapter highlights how the process of taking a selfie is entangled in the dispositif of smartphone user interfaces, how default settings and norms of interaction are shaping this process, and how specific types of temporality like seriality and liveness evolve from this embeddedness. Contextualizing selfie practices within the convergence of mobile photography and the history of personal computing opens up a possibility to shed new light on the question of agency in the “selfie act,” which is often reduced to the photographing subject within the debate about selfies.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Following Foucault , the term “dispositif” describes a network of power consisting of a heterogeneous ensemble of regulatory mechanisms and practices. Within this chapter, the term “dispositif” is used primarily to highlight that computer-based media are not only technological artifacts but are always entangled in and brought about by practices. As Branden Hookway (2014, 148) points out with reference to Foucault’s notion of dispositif, every mediation can be understood as a process of setting elements into relation and context. This way of positioning can be observed quite readily in the practice of taking selfies, which is discussed in the course of this chapter. For an in-depth analysis of the problematic translations of dispositif and an overview about the use of the concept in the writings of Foucault, Deleuze , and Agamben , see Bussolini (2010).

  2. 2.

    As Martin Hand (2012) points out, the question who takes the photograph, who generates the image (is it the photographer, the artist or the camera, the apparatus ?) has been extensively debated since the very beginning of photography theory. Depending on the response to that question photography was either seen as art or mere reproduction—or as something in between these two assignments. By accentuating the artistic activity of the photographer, however, the agency of the camera and its dispositif has often been neglected (16–19).

  3. 3.

    In a more current approach, Martin Hand (2012) has also highlighted that photographs are best understood as practices (97).

  4. 4.

    As journalist Elisabeth Day (2013, n.p.) argues on Theguardian.com : “As a result, images tagged as #selfie began appearing on the photo-sharing website Flickr as early as 2004. But it was the introduction of smartphones—most crucially the iPhone 4, which came along in 2010 with a front -facing camera—that made the selfie go viral.”

  5. 5.

    One could even argue that the tension between individuation and generalization applies not only to the logic of mass media but lies at the core of the modern promise of individuality , as it is for instance conveyed in the idea of individuality through consumption.

  6. 6.

    The smartphone that is referred to here is a iPhone 4S with the operating system iOS 7.0.6. However, this is only one of many smartphones on the market, and it represents nothing more than a random choice. But the elementary range of operations described in this example might as well be conferrable to other smartphones and their default interface settings.

  7. 7.

    This differentiates the selfie from other media of self-portrayal like painting where the gaze into the mirror and the gaze towards the canvas displaying the self-portrait are separated.

  8. 8.

    For a closer look at the ubiquity of the file format JPEG as a default mode and a critical discussion of its deterministic versus democratic potential, see Palmer (2013).

  9. 9.

    A lot of these tips and tricks can be found in the many available “how-to” guides in online magazines, on blogs or platforms like YouTube.

  10. 10.

    The advertising campaign for the LG G5 smartphone can be found here: http://www.lg.com/us/mobile-phones/g5#G5Modularity

  11. 11.

    This summary refers to Geimer (2009, 125).

  12. 12.

    The banality of posing for tourist snaps has itself become a subject of photography—for example, in Martin Parr’s photographs of the “Pisa pushers ” (Berger 2011, 175–176).

  13. 13.

    See Fig. 2.9 in Chap. 2 by André Gunthert in this volume.

  14. 14.

    A good example for the fascination to witness the photographic act is the gif animation that circulated after the Oscars selfie showing the moment of the protagonists getting into “picture pose” in front of the smartphone screen.

  15. 15.

    Although a lot of selfies are not necessarily shared online and might rather be used for private communication , thus remaining invisible for uninvolved users , online social networks and platforms for sharing have been the breeding ground for the prevalence of the selfie as a genre of its own.

  16. 16.

    For a closer look at the history of photo messages and camphone photography , see Villi (2007).

  17. 17.

    Apart from the sheer ubiquitousness of cameras, it could be also discussed in more detail how digital devices like smartphones and various applications provide an aesthetic of availability that invites the user to take numerous pictures. The term “Funktionslust”—the pure joy of trying out available functions like filters , frames , text, paint functions, and all other ways to handle a photographic image—could serve as a good starting point here.

  18. 18.

    Uploaded to YouTube August 11, 2006, under the title Me: Girl takes pic of herself every day for three years.

  19. 19.

    Uploaded to YouTube August 27, 2006, under the title Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years.

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  1. Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Sabine Wirth

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  1. Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Julia Eckel

  2. Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Jens Ruchatz

  3. Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Sabine Wirth

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Wirth, S. (2018). Interfacing the Self: Smartphone Snaps and the Temporality of the Selfie. In: Eckel, J., Ruchatz, J., Wirth, S. (eds) Exploring the Selfie. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57949-8_10

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