Ryan Gander

Definition of a selfie; ‘a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.’ This week we got sent a documentary to write about; Me, My Selfie and I with Ryan Gander. Ryan Gander OBE is a British artist who has founded an international reputation through artworks in various forms, such as sculpture, film, graphic design, installation, writing and performance.

This documentary discusses what social media and technology is doing to our sense of self. This topic is something I’ve thought about and discussed with friends before, as I believe social media can be quite a toxic place, not just for the younger generation. The documentary starts with a powerful opening which entices me to want to watch the rest; “The selfie is just the visible tip of a much, much bigger iceberg. A radical reinvention of who we are, powered by the latest technology. Its changed the amount that we look at ourselves but I reckon it’s also changing what we see. The discrepancy between who we really are and who we say we are online is transforming us.” Ryan explains why he doesn’t use twitter or facebook, as it’s “hugely addictive”. Instagram is the most popular form of social media, however possibly the most toxic. A young lady called Sophie is interviewed by Ryan about her experience with social media. She is a dancer, performer and fire breather, and one night an incident took place where her face was set on fire. After the accident she continued to post to her followers pictures of herself pre the accident. Sophie said eventually she had to bite the bullet and post the truth as being authentic is the best way to be. Social media is a place you can show the world whoever you want to be, which is why it’s so dangerous and gives out a false reality. For Sophie, ‘Instagram is a bittersweet contradiction’.

I asked a few people for their opinion on social media and how they believe it has affected them and society. My mum said that social media definitely has its positives, but mainly has its negatives. She said that life back in the day was a lot easier, as there was’t that constant 24/7 contact, you can never switch off. She believes social media should come with a health warning like cigarette packaging; ’SERIOUSLY HARMFUL FOR YOUR HEALTH AND MENTAL WELL-BEING’. It is also that constant pressure of trying to fit in to a specific stereotype. Quite a few of my close friends either want or have lip filler. This is because social media influencers all have big, luscious lips, however they’re fake. The beauty standards of today for both male and female are crazy! It makes me sad that my gorgeous friends feel the need to change themselves in order to classify as “beautiful”. However one of my friends Melie says that she wants to get work done as it makes her feel better about herself, but I believe if social media did not exist she might not want all this work done. I support my friends in any decision they decide to make, I just wish they could see how gorgeous they are naturally.

I wish social media didn’t exist as I believe life would be much simpler and more peaceful without it. I’ve never been the sort of person to compare myself to anyone, but over lockdown I found myself spending too many hours on instagram looking at all these beautiful girls. It’s made me understand why girls compare themselves to other girls. Ryan says “we’ve almost become drowned in self imagery”. It’s like people become obsessive over trying to look the best, when in reality they need to be happy within themselves without other peoples validation. On the other hand, my friend called Bronya believes that social media is a place where you can show off the best version of yourself. A quote from the documentary; “there has never been a better time to be yourself, whoever you are and whatever you want to be”. There is of course some positives that social media brings, in that you can reach large audiences, you can create organic content and you can make new friends and communicate. You can also connect with old friends and family, and you can put yourself out there in a good light.

Ryan believes that “self portraiture has never been so powerful and full of possibility”. He investigates the selfie by going back hundreds of years before technology was even invented. I like how Ryan studies old photographs, I find it fascinating to hear what he has to say about them. One photograph he assesses is a self portrait from 1839 by Robert Cornelius, and Ryan assumes this is the first ever selfie! The picture shows a worried facial expression, almost like he’s frightened about the future and the uncertainty of it. Ryan says it’s like he’s aware of a potential future. In another aspect of the documentary, Ryan explores what life would be like without technology/ social media. He visits a lady called Emma who lives in the middle of no where by herself in a hut made of mud. He wasn’t allowed to bring his phone to her house, this is because she believes technology brings stress. Emma lives like this as she wants to live on this earth in a way she feels is none destructive. It pains her that not enough people in this world care about the earth we live on. She claims “you can live simply and be happy”. I believe that protecting your energy is extremely important. Ryan says that “the only thing that we’re all born with equal amounts of is time to dream, time to think, time to just be in the present. It’s the greatest asset that we have and yet we throw so much of it away.” I hope that one day this world can be a more authentic and peaceful place.

I really enjoyed this documentary so much so I decided to paint my first ever large scale self portrait. My favourite thing to paint is people. I like to capture the person’s personality in a fun, vibrant way. I’ve never really posted that many selfies of myself, nor painted myself, but knowing who you are authentically as a person is extremely beneficial to your life. Over the corona period I’ve definitely become more self aware and learnt a lot about myself and what I want to achieve in my life. I feel as though exploring myself through the art of painting has been super fun, as I’ve tried to portray myself in a painting in the best most real way I could.