Summery- At the beginning of the chapter it talks about Parmigianino an italian mannerist painter from 1524. It goes on to talk about how we can relate his self-portrait that he did using a convex mirror to the way be shape ourselves through technology today. Today we use technology and things like Facebook or Instagram and also fitbits to compare and see parts of ourselves just as Parmigianino did in his self portrait. We see the same things he seen. As the you continue to read on it become kind of pattern or a sense of growth when thinking about writing or painting. A lot of people didn’t know how to read or write in the seventeenth Century. It really wasnt till the nineteenth century that people really began to read and write. Most of the people who did read and write were priest or nuns. But the writing was done more for religion and ones self-examination of it. As time goes on paper becomes more accessible and affordable and people started using it for other things like a diary or for keeping track of businesses and their funds. A very popular tradition of writing was in a diary about ones sins. This was a method used to reflect on ones actions or sins.
Photography has evolved so much over history. Especially when it comes to self portraits. From painting to taking a photo of ourselves that in the past you might see in an art gallery. Today when you see a camera used more is when taking selfies. Quantitative self-representation refers to keeping track of thing like what we do on our phones or fitbit. In the past people use to track things by using a form of a check list. Like for example things that they would need to get done or how many things they have accomplished. Self tracking was also used to record time and events. Just like today when we use Facebook to post on a time line. Which keeps track of the date and time or place of when it was posted.
Commentary- In about the middle of the chapter the author talks about Katie Warfield and how she researches selfies. She talks about how we can look at ourselves in the mirror but cannot record it. When we take a selfie and post it, it keeps record of it. And we do things like share photos of not only ourselves but the things we do. We are not only doing it for a reaction from the audience that is viewing what you are sharing. We also do it for ourselves. As I would see it as a self-esteem booster. Maybe when we post things like a new house we are trying to compete with others and what they have and post.
Making Connections- Reading about Katie Warfield and her studies and how she speaks about selfies hit home for me. She goes on talking about how we take all of these photos and post them as if we are doing it to show everyone else. But what we don’t think about is how what we are posting represents who we are or what we perceive ourselves to be to our audience. Today everyone wants to have the nicest things or look the best. Which is fine. But I also think there is a line where we have to ask ourselves are we posting these things for self acceptance or for people just to view them with no underline meaning behind it.
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