Main content

Know Thy Selfie

Episode 1 of 5

Writer Polly Coles reads Know Thy Selfie, the first of her essays on portraiture and our obsession with ourselves.

Writer Polly Coles reads Know Thy selfie, the first of her essays on portraiture and our obsession with ourselves. She looks at five different aspects of portraiture and makes the case that portraiture is the most intimate artistic conversation of all. Face to face with another human being, no other art form investigates and reveals more richly what it is to be human. Portraits can promote exploitation and self-aggrandisement, but at their best, they are instruments of honesty, love and profound attention.

Polly suggests self-portraits are acts of radical self-exposure, whilst selfies achieve the opposite, constructing an image.

Produced by Melanie Harris of Sparklab Productions
Photo by Ella Gradwell

You can find images of some of the paintings by artists referenced here:
Jan van Eyk: bit.ly/Jan-Van-Eyck
Tracey Emin: bit.ly/TraceyEminCBE
Jonathan Richardson: bit.ly/JonathanRichardson
William Utermohlen: bit.ly/WilliamUtermohlen;
Claude Cahun: bit.ly/ClaudeCahunSelfPortraits
Cindy Sherman: bit.ly/CindyShermanNPG
Greta Sharp: bit.ly/GretaSharp
The 麻豆官网首页入口 is not responsible for the contents of the sites listed.

Available now

14 minutes

Last on

Mon 7 Nov 2022 22:45

More episodes

Previous

You are at the first episode

See all episodes from The Essay

Broadcasts

  • Mon 11 Jan 2021 22:45
  • Mon 7 Nov 2022 22:45

Death in Trieste

Death in Trieste

A 1760s murder still informs ideas about aesthetics, a certain sort of sex, and death.

Watch: My Deaf World

Watch: My Deaf World

Five compelling experiences of what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain.

The Book that Changed Me

Five figures from the arts and science introduce books that changed their lives and work.

Download The Essay

Download The Essay

Download all the episodes from the series and listen at your leisure.

Podcast