:portrahere / mentoring

My project at AYB high school as a mentor. 8 students were trying to find an answer to one simple question throughout one whole year: Why do we take photos of ourselves? In the first half of it, they dug the history to understand what drove humans to depict other humans, with the research going on to become a monograph afterwards. In the second half of the year, they split into four groups and were joined by four famous people and tried to answer that question by taking photos of those same celebrities.

Why do we take photos of ourselves? Why is looking at ourselves in the mirror every morning not enough? We can still explain the reason for taking family photos, or the ones with colleagues, or at weddings. Those may symbolize the various achievements we’ve made at different stages of life or, as they say, are taken for posterity. But why would we take pictures of ourselves while eating a salad at a café, or barely even awakened in the morning and still in bed, or hugging someone else’s child, or showcasing new clothes and hairdo? It’s not that easy to explain, and it’s definitely not about the pleasant café atmosphere, or the beautiful sunrise, or the deep love for another person’s kid, or the stylish hair.

There are questions we have been trying to find answers to since we were born: Who am I? Where is my place on the planet? How do I find my path in life? And we sometimes try to find answers to these questions through our photos. We even make an attempt to find our real self in a passport photo. “My picture doesn’t look much like me” is the most common expression in passport departments. And where do you resemble yourself the most? While eating a salad at a café?

The selfie boom has nothing to do with the ever-growing spread of smartphones and technological advances. The selfie proves time and time again that humans tend to be greedy, selfish, mistrustful of others. For instance, we demonstrate our “accomplishedness” at a café, or take endless travel photos of ourselves like the rich who once were willing to stand motionless for hours, surrounded by wealth and luxury, for a portrait. Or, we take photos in the morning in an effort to overcome the fear of death haunting us like our own shadow. We awake to understand that we are still breathing, we have all our body parts in place, and decide to let the world know about that.

We take photos with other people’s children to hush up our dream of having a baby. The same is true about posing with someone else’s expensive car or wedding cake. Also, we’re trying to fight the fear of being forgotten with new clothes and hair. We remind of ourselves, scream to the world that we are new and that someone needs us.

And still, why do we take self-portraits?

If we put aside all the psychological analyses and the arguments that we looked good or photogenic that day, we’ll realize that everything is extremely relative. Taking selfies is something of a natural need, pretty much like eating, sleeping or having a shower. But if we eat, sleep and have a shower to satisfy the hunger, to rest or to be clean, then it’s a bit unclear why we take photos of ourselves. To remember those moments later?

Or we just trust our memories to the photograph, convinced that it won’t ever forget them and will always be there for us like a true friend to tell us about ourselves? It will remind that careless day at the café, or what a good laugh we had with the child, or how attractive we looked with the new hairstyle. We often don’t have the time to remember those “hollow” moments. Our brain is overloaded with pondering on our account balance, debts and loans, or with thoughts we have when getting angry with people who upset us.

Probably.

But maybe we just like taking photos of our own selves, in much the same way we like the salad, especially when we manage to get tomatoes, cucumbers and the feta cheese in a single mouthful. Or the way we love our beds and bedrooms bathing in the morning sunlight that peeps through the window. Or the way we love others’ children and their smiles with no explanation whatsoever and live for their first steps. Or the way we love to go shopping for hours, hoping to find the dress of our dreams in a remote corner on a hidden hanger just to wear it several times and forget about it in the bedroom closet. Maybe.

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Anna Grigoryan - actress / photographers: Stefani Harutyunyan, Lilia Mirzoyan

"I have photos of myself taken because I like it."

Samvel Tadevosyan - actor / photographers: Rima Torosyan, Nareh Honarchian

"I have my photos taken to see myself through the eyes of the photographer, from their perspective, hoping to discover a new me, a new aspect of myself after going through the lensman’s visual and sensory prism and eventually appearing on paper. "

Misho - rapper / photographers: Rozi Mkrtchyan, Karen Shahnazaryan

"I have my photos taken because it’s pretty much like creating, and it doesn’t matter whether you are being photographed or are behind the camera."

Aram MP3 - singer / photographers: Naneh Mouradian, Mariam Hovakimyan

"I have my photos taken as I believe that a single picture can tell more about an individual than thousands of words. Photos are a way of self-expression and communication, as well as a means of introducing myself to the society. While being photographed, I sometimes reach a state of mind which I can’t achieve during any other activity."