#phototutor

I am most comfortable behind the camera, than in front of the lens. There are a number of reasons, how I feel about my body, how I look, how others will judge me. I'm comfortable having my photo taken in a group photo with friends, but I've always felt uncomfortable having my photo taken. Taking a selfie is probably one of the most difficult tasks for me in this unit. Which is why I focused on the parts of my body that I like and feel comfortable sharing online. Thinking about fears of sharing selfies online, one of my fears is that once you share something online, it's out there in the big wide world forever! With photo prints in a photo album, you can choose who I want to share my photos with. But once you share a photo online, you lose control over who sees that photo. Even if I choose to share photos only with friends online, there is nothing stopping them from saving the photo or sharing it on. There is a risk that once the photo is in others hands, that they will use photoshop to edit it, or just share it without my permission or consent. I was born in the era before digital natives, only just. So I feel a lot more comfortable with older technologies. I'm not a dinosaur, but I did my growing up without mobile phones that had cameras. The Internet was in its infancy, and most homes only had one desktop computer. When I look back, I liked not being connected 24/7 365 days a year. I actually like turning my phone off and going for a walk or ride in a national park or to the beach for a swim. I like being in the moment, whether it's with ppl I care about, talking to ppl I don't know, or alone listening to the sounds of nature around me. Going back to the topic of selfies, when I grew up, I made mistakes like most ppl did, but only the ppl who were with me at the time will remember what happened. There are no selfies or photos of me getting drunk when I was 14 years old and thinking it would be a good idea to go to school ( drunk ! ). My teachers and classmates will remember, but there is no online record to haunt me for years to come. I've seen how it can upset ppl when they share a selfie with their friends, and it ends up being Photoshopped and edited or turned into a meme without their permission. So I guess that's why I fear sharing selfies online. The loss of control over who sees it, and of being judged.