There is an art to taking selfies and college students in London are going to learn how to master it.

City Lit, a college located in London, England, is now offering a course titled “The Art of Self Portraiture,” in which students explore the act of taking selfies and “practice introduction to photographic self-portraiture,” according to the online course description provided by City Lit on its website.

The class, which is set to begin in March, covers material including the appreciation of the art of taking selfies in a theory-based format, as well as camera techniques and projects to capture the essence of the digital self-portrait, according to City Lit’s website. The class is available to anyone with even an unprofessional experience with taking selfies, according to a Jan. 5 Digital Trends article.

However, the course isn’t solely focused on taking the perfect selfie. By taking the class, students not only learn the photographic skills behind a great selfie, but they also “explore notions of identity, selfhood and memory through the self-portrait,” according to City Lit’s website.

The class is taught through lectures, discussions and other kinds of presentations to enhance the art of self-portraiture. In addition, the students’ work is critiqued to help them achieve their highest selfie potential, according to the City Lit course description. Students also have to be equipped with digital single-lens reflex, or DSLR, cameras and other photographic equipment in preparation for class assignments.

The United States has its fair share of research and involvement on the topic as well. Students are choosing to study the selfie because it gives us a unique look into how people of the digital age are relating to technology, as well as to one another, and The Selfies Research Network is looking more in to the role that selfies play in today’s society, said Elizabeth Losh in an email. Losh is a published author and the director of Culture, Art and Technology at University of California at San Diego.

Losh has an extensive background on the subject of self-portraiture, as well as other ways that feminism and technology are connected. She is one of three co-facilitators of a group that examines such crosses between the two groups known as FemTechNet.

“Many of these scholars identify as feminists, so they are interested in examining why there is a moral panic about girls shooting and sharing self-portraits and ways that conventional standards of beauty can be challenged if more people participate in visual culture,” she said.

“I have also argued that they are important for studying place-making, because the background is often as important as the foreground,” Losh added. “Selfies are also useful as a way to talk about surveillance and data mining.”

There is also the simple fact that selfies seem to be becoming more than simply a trend in millennial culture. Losh said that in some cases, such as the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, professional photographers will provide instruction about creating more compelling images, even in the case of selfies. Classes like the one being offered at City Lit are organized forms of this instructional selfie-taking revolution.

“College instructors in the arts and humanities are always trying to find new ways to connect to their students and to keep course content relevant to their concerns,” Losh said.

“To spur critical thinking, we also want to help students understand how everyday informal practices can be interpreted with the theoretical frameworks and cultural histories that they may encounter in their formal education.”

Published on January 22, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Erin: eemcdona@syr.edu