Beneath The Wake
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A mirror is all about a sense of self, as obviously, is a self portrait.
In the year 1902, Charles Horton Cooley, a social psychologist, of Ann Arbor Michigan, coined the term “the looking-glass self”; the idea that a person’s sense of identity grows out of their interactions with others. For example, Mother might think you’re an angel, Father might think you’re a fool, your siblings might think you’re a whiner, your friends might think you’re a clown, and the barista at The Precious Bean just might think you’re slobberingly hot. We might mirror all these behaviours, but might is the critical word here. To oversimplify, we make assessments about how others see us based on how they interact with us, rarely do we have evidence that our assessments are correct, but even without that certainty, each interaction shapes our sense of self.
There is something adorably sneaky about a self portrait that is so intimate, and yet shows so little information. With her back turned, the subject might be glancing in the mirror, or looking down at the desk, might be smiling, might be weeping, snarling or pouting, might, might, might. And to exacerbate that sense of secrecy in the corner is a great big mirror, revealing only what we already know to be there.
Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, Rachel Irving and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
