Selfie-Obsessed
My first 'incelfie' // Ted and Ziva // August 2014.
One of the first themes of American Witness became immediately apparent in our string of visits to the National Parks of the southwest. Due to the popularity of these federally-protected wonders of the natural world, tourism is inextricably tied to the landscape. One phenomenon that we were drawn to was the idea of the "selfie". I began to see images of these people turn up in my photography, a type of image I had made in the past. We have started referring to these images by the term, "incelfie".
Being that this trip is primarily photographic, we are down to try anything with our cameras. The prevalence of selfie culture at the National Parks inspired us to play around with selfies and the incelfie, and look for it throughout America. In this series of images I look at how and why people photograph themselves. Placing this in the context of the American landscape is an exploration into cultural identity.
- Daniel Robbins -