Self-portraiture is a singular form within the broad field of first-person film and video – not so much an account of the filmmaker’s intimate life as a representation of the artist at a given instant. With deep roots in the Western tradition of painting and literature, self-portraiture in the moving image can be considered to be a hybrid practice, not fitting into the traditional definition of documentary or fiction, as it breaks the boundaries of both genres.
The investigative and self-reflexive stance of the self-portrait raises questions about intimacy, the appearance and corporeality of the subject and, more importantly, the medium itself. Today the understanding and definition of this practice is being challenged by the emergence of new forms of self-portraiture brought about by digital media, such as the selfie phenomenon. Against this backdrop, this book reassesses the significance of the self-portrait in the moving image and new media by exploring a varied and international body of works.
Author(s): Muriel Tinel-Temple, Laura Busetta, Marlène Monteiro
Series: New Studies in European Cinema
Publisher: Peter Lang Ltd, International Academic Publishers
Year: 2019
Language: English
Pages: 276
Cover
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction (Muriel Tinel-Temple / Laura Busetta / Marlène Monteiro)
1 Cinewriting the Self: The Letter-Film as Self-Portrait (Laura Rascaroli)
2 The Other Portrait: Agnès Varda’s Self-Portraiture (Dominique Bluher)
3 Vincent Dieutre: The Self-Portrait as Suspended Gesture (Marlène Monteiro)
4 Self-Portraits in Early Video: At Work with the Medium (Muriel Tinel-Temple)
5 The Self at a Distance: Simone Fattal’s Autoportrait (1972/2012) (Alisa Lebow)
6 From Mass Media Studies to Self-Produced Media Studies: Strategies of Self-Portraiture in Pregnancy and Video Diaries (Deborah Toschi / Federica Villa)
7 The Self-Portrait in Digital Media: Repetition, Manipulation, Update (Laura Busetta)
8 Believing Is Being: Selfies, Referentiality, and the Politics of Belief in Amalia Ulman’s Instagram (Gary Kafer)
9 Self-Administering the Image Virus: Six Months of Selfies (William Brown)
Notes on Contributors
Index
