Analysis Of How You See Yourself By Nicholas Mirzoeff

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The essay How You See Yourself by Nicholas Mirzoeff discusses the evolution of art. The author discusses the use of art to represent changing identities over the years including cultural practices and societal expectations. The selfie, according to Nicholas Mirzoeff’s essay, is the equivalent of a self-portrait in the previous centuries preceding the technological development required for the present day selfie. The essay explores the different periods and the significance of art, particularly self-portraits, the selfies of the time, and their development over time. The author focuses on different themes including heroism, gender definition, and the focus of an image. Mirzoeff effectively provides examples illustrating and reinforcing the themes he highlights in his essay. …show more content…

This was a scandal as a woman could not be a painter during this period. Rather than the mother and daughter having downcast glances, they both looked up confidently, which was seen as defiance. Vigee-Lebrun’s self- portrait celebrated her role as a mother during a time when wet nurses were the primary caretakers of the children. The heroic theme is portrayed by the artwork Drowned Man by Hippolyte Bayard who was credited with the invention of the selfie as well as the invention of the photographic fake as he was not actually dead as in the artwork. The author of the essay, Nicholas Mirzoeff, explores our conscious and unconscious needs to put forward caricatured versions of ourselves. He states that we always have an agenda, be it unconscious or conscious when creating images of ourselves. This is also seen in the self-portrait named the Drowned Man. The artwork by Hippolyte Bayard is cited as a perfect example of a man portraying himself to the audience as something he is not, dead. Some people actually believed by Bayard was dead at the

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