Vivian Keulards

Me and My Selfie It’s fascinating to watch how people present themselves in the digital world of social media. I specifically find teenagers intriguing to observe. I was introduced to the culture of selfies through my 13-year old daughter Eva. I've been watching how she makes selfies without any shame...
Me and My Selfie It’s fascinating to watch how people present themselves in the digital world of social media. I specifically find teenagers intriguing to observe. I was introduced to the culture of selfies through my 13-year old daughter Eva. I've been watching how she makes selfies without any shame of me sitting next to her, then post them on Instagram and then check every 5 minutes how many likes she’s got. When she receives less than 100 likes within one day, her selfie is removed from Instagram. The images presented in her digital world, the way she sees herself, differ hugely from my view upon my daughter’s stage of life. In the digital world she shows herself as a self-confident, fearless, knowing what she wants, older looking, always happy girl. In real life I know how hard this stage of life is: puberty. Trying to figure out who you are, seeking for new peers in school, trying to walk those first steps towards adulthood. On the one hand they seem all quite independent and grown-up, on the other hand they are so vulnerable and drifting. Within this concept, I made portraits of young Dutch teenagers in 7th grade, first year of High school in the Netherlands, a new start. I portrayed boys and girls through my eyes and they send me their selected selfies. The combination of both views is captivating. You can see the contradiction of both worlds. Of course most of them disliked the portrait made by me!
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Fleur (13 years)
Thomas (13 years)
Daimy (13 years)
Ingrid (13 years)
Eva (13 years)
Berend (13 years)
Frouke (13 years)
Tim (12 years)
Kris (13 years)
Lola (13 years)