Why the SGn habit of photographing oneself?

[JR8]

Trust me, not just Japanese but also all kawaii-wannabes regardless of nationality. God forbid, they even have the doe-eyed pose done by tilting camera at an angle downwards and they'll pop their eyes as big as they can and pout...

Which reminds me the SGns in question routinely parody other nationalities' habits. It seems to go roughly like this...

Japanese.
Hold hand in front of mouth. Giggle timidly at high-speed (i.e. 'Hehehe, hehehe, hehehe, hehehe'), meanwhile wave a V-sign with the right hand.

Chinese.
Seems to be simply demanding 'Take pitzer, pitzer, take pitzer hor, pitzer!'

This does make me laugh

[facibus]

I am not sure when this started here, but the habit of taking and posting "selfies" (photos of self with others or in specific locations) has been around in the web hipster community in AU for several years now - there are a few years worth of one-selfie-per-day memes on flickr and the like.

I'm not defending it, and I can see how it is annoying, but many people use it as a kind of visual diary - "today, I was at a friend's place with these people", "today, I was at a National Park", "today, I was eating at this restaurant" and so on.

Of greater interest, to many, is the art of semi- and unclad selfie photography popularised by MySpace, and of late, Facebook. For some risable examples please see antiduckface.com.

Hope this helps

Best regards, Andrew

I've had the pleasure of various SGn house-guests for the best part of 4 of the past 5 weeks, and now I am enjoying seeing their photographs on Facebook.

I well know that they seem to have a thing about taking multiple pictures of themselves just hanging out and having fun, but I am a little taken aback to see maybe 80% of hundreds of photos are all pretty much the same
a) picture of me
b) picture of me and friends X
c) picture of me and friends Z, taken by friend X
d) picture of me and X and Z, taken with the camera pointing backwards,
and so on, and so on, and so on, over and over.

Every time they get together they seem to do the same thing. I got to the point of being 'antisocial' and asking them stop taking photos of me as it just got a bit silly really, I mean I know what I look like.

These are smart 30-somethings, not children. Does anyone understand why they do this?

[JR8]

I'm not defending it, and I can see how it is annoying, but many people use it as a kind of visual diary - "today, I was at a friend's place with these people", "today, I was at a National Park", "today, I was eating at this restaurant" and so on.

Veeeery interesting, I would not have considered that. I know from first hand experience that the JPnese and Koreans were doing the V-sign 20 years ago. Presumably for pix to go in photo albums. But now in the digital age with FB, blogs, and so on I suppose it is not so surprising that the idea of a 'visual diary' has become so mainstream regionally.


Of greater interest, to many, is the art of semi- and unclad selfie photography popularised by MySpace, and of late, Facebook. For some risable examples please see antiduckface.com.

Hilarious, WTF are these people thinking!?

Thanks!

[facibus]

I'm not defending it, and I can see how it is annoying, but many people use it as a kind of visual diary - "today, I was at a friend's place with these people", "today, I was at a National Park", "today, I was eating at this restaurant" and so on.

Veeeery interesting, I would not have considered that. I know from first hand experience that the JPnese and Koreans were doing the V-sign 20 years ago. Presumably for pix to go in photo albums. But now in the digital age with FB, blogs, and so on I suppose it is not so surprising that the idea of a 'visual diary' has become so mainstream regionally.


Of greater interest, to many, is the art of semi- and unclad selfie photography popularised by MySpace, and of late, Facebook. For some risable examples please see antiduckface.com.

Hilarious, WTF are these people thinking!?

Thanks!

I will never understand why they thought that the duckface was attractive. The cleavage, that is attractive. The duckface, less so

[JR8]

I will never understand why they thought that the duckface was attractive. The cleavage, that is attractive. The duckface, less so

As for cleavage, yes if it's natural. But for me fakies are are just totally yeugh! I say that based on ample 'first hand' experience

[beppi]

The "Taking Pictures Of Oneself In Funny Poses" disease is nothing compared to the (much older) "Taking Pictures Of Oneself Obstructing The View Of Sights One Has Been To" defect.
And worst of all is the "V-Finger" reflex, which all Asians show whenever a lens comes into view. (Note: A reflex is subconscious and cannot be controlled by will.)

[durain]

some tried to copy the "v-finger for victory/peace" but end up doing the "2 fingers up yours"!

[JR8]

Hmmm... I wonder

---------
Japan and the V sign in photographs

Young Japanese women giving V gesture in Tokyo (2006)

The palm-outwards V sign is very commonly made by Japanese people, especially younger people, when posing for informal photographs. One account of this practice claims that during the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, American figure skater Janet Lynn stumbled into Japanese pop culture when she fell during a free-skate period, but continued to smile even as she sat on the ice.

Though she placed only third in the competition, her cheerful diligence and persistence resonated with many Japanese viewers, making her an overnight foreign celebrity in Japan. Lynn, a peace activist, was repeatedly seen flashing the V sign in the Japanese media thereafter.

Though the V sign was known of in Japan before Lynn used it there (from the post-World War II Allied occupation of Japan), she is credited by some Japanese for having popularized its use in amateur photographs.[30]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign
---------------

[durain]

cant believe there's a wiki on v-sign!!!

the only proper v-sign i know is from winston churchill.

[JR8]

cant believe there's a wiki on v-sign!!!
the only proper v-sign i know is from winston churchill.

Nor could I, but I thought I'd google it just in case!
Also fascinating that one might have thought Churchill initiated the V-for-Victory gesture, but in fact it came from Belgium, and rapidly took hold amongst allied countries, including the UK where Churchill popularised it.

Learn something new every day

[the lynx]

cant believe there's a wiki on v-sign!!!
the only proper v-sign i know is from winston churchill.

Nor could I, but I thought I'd google it just in case!
Also fascinating that one might have thought Churchill initiated the V-for-Victory gesture, but in fact it came from Belgium, and rapidly took hold amongst allied countries, including the UK where Churchill popularised it.

Learn something new every day

And this is why many Westerners are dumbfounded when they see young Asians, especially girls, flash V-sign around when taking photos...

[JR8]

And this is why many Westerners are dumbfounded when they see young Asians, especially girls, flash V-sign around when taking photos...

Quite, because in our minds it is so very closely associated with Churchill.

[the lynx]

And this is why many Westerners are dumbfounded when they see young Asians, especially girls, flash V-sign around when taking photos...

Quite, because in our minds it is so very closely associated with Churchill.

Which connotes quite an opposite thing when compared to the Asians' perception to V-sign...

[JR8]

Which connotes quite an opposite thing when compared to the Asians' perception to V-sign...

The apparent contradiction for westerners, is vanquished JPnese having adopted the iconic symbol popularised by one of the key figure-heads of their demise.

p.s. I still don't quite get what the Asian perception of it is...

[the lynx]

Which connotes quite an opposite thing when compared to the Asians' perception to V-sign...

The apparent contradiction for westerners, is vanquished JPnese having adopted the iconic symbol popularised by one of the key figure-heads of their demise.

p.s. I still don't quite get what the Asian perception of it is...

Well I guess I can speak on behalf of that counterpart (an Asian myself)

For 80% of them, it is just plain cute, which is just wow, plain wow.

For another 19.99%, they probably figured out that it means victory and use it proudly, but then again it is like shooting at own foot.

That remainder usually belongs to those who do know that it is related to Churchill...

There you go.