大象传媒

Writer Polly Coles reads Know Thy selfie, the first of her essays on portraiture and our obsession with ourselves. She looks at five different aspects of portraiture and makes the case that portraiture is the most intimate artistic conversation of all. Face to face with another human being, no other art form investigates and reveals more richly what it is to be human. Portraits can promote exploitation and self-aggrandisement, but at their best, they are instruments of honesty, love and profound attention.

Polly suggests self-portraits are acts of radical self-exposure, whilst selfies achieve the opposite, constructing an image.

Produced by Melanie Harris of Sparklab Productions
Photo by Ella Gradwell

You can find images of some of the paintings by artists referenced here:
Jan van Eyk: bit.ly/Jan-Van-Eyck
Tracey Emin: bit.ly/TraceyEminCBE
Jonathan Richardson: bit.ly/JonathanRichardson
William Utermohlen: bit.ly/WilliamUtermohlen;
Claude Cahun: bit.ly/ClaudeCahunSelfPortraits
Cindy Sherman: bit.ly/CindyShermanNPG
Greta Sharp: bit.ly/GretaSharp
The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the contents of the sites listed.