Do you shoot selfies? Generally I am not a fan of selfies, at least not in the way that some people use (and overuse) them on social media—I am not that much in love with my own face. Still, I am not totally against them. I remember times in the past, when I was shooting with a film camera, when I would ask someone to take a picture of me in front of some well-known site or monument.
When I do want to insert myself into the frame, I try to do so in a creative way. When I was recently in the badlands of North Dakota, for example, I decided I wanted to try to create a selfie that conveyed a “bad boy” vibe. I really am a nice guy, so I wasn’t sure that I could pull off the look and was pleasantly surprised with the result. Some of my friends say the shot makes me look like I had just stepped off of a Harley.
I love to take photos just after sunrise and just before sunset when the sun is so low that it creates elongated shadows of me that are perhaps my favorite type of selfie, a selfie without a face. They always remind me of the famous sculptures of Alberto Giacometti, like Walking Man. I took the second photo with my iPhone in the early morning of 28 July as I stared out at the vast expanse of North Dakota badlands at Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
The final photo is an unusual kind of selfie, a selfie without a face or a body. My orange KIA Soul is a representation of me, a kind of symbolic representation of who I am. I sometimes describe my car as practical, economical, and a little quirky, descriptors that apply equally well to me.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
You’re like me… I loathe selfies… I hate standing in front of the camera… definitely before being behind the lens. Love your quirky car…
I have gotten used to being in front of a camera a bit and don’t mind when someone as skilled as my friend Cindy is wielding the camera. However, there are so many limitations when trying to photograph yourself that I would rather not do it.
Very true about the limitations when photographing yourself. Mind you, I’ve always been the same.. I just hide if I see anyone pointing a camera at me. 😀 😀 😀
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😂The Badlands are a great place to look like a bad dude!
Blue Rock Horses Frederick County, Virginia bluerockhorses.com
Thanks, Mitzy. It is fun to take photos like that, like I am playing a role in a movie. 🙂
😎❤️
I particularly like the “shadow shot” and chuckled at the long lens dangling from your hip, patiently waiting for you to call upon its services.
Thanks. When I took the photo with my iPhone, I definitely was not aware that my telephoto zoom lens was sticking out like that, but I think the fact that it is protruding enhances the quirky vibe of the image. I am still working through my shots from the trip that I took with my “big boy” camera, but am quite pleased with the way that my iPhone performed, especially for landscape-type shots, for which it seems ideally suited.
I like your creative approach. I am not a selfie person either – and actually don’t like photos of myself generally – but I take a selfie when we are on trips or vacations so that there is a record of me having actually been in X place at Y time. That’s possibly the family historian in me.
Thanks, Laura. Photography can serve many functions, from documenting the factual side of “reality” to presenting a creative spin on that “reality.” It’s generally just a matter of perspective.
S add l hood photos, Mike. I rarely shoot selfies.
All good photos
Thanks, Dan.
Welcome home. (My only rare selfies are of my shadow.)
Thanks. I am happy to hear that I am not the only one who takes shadow selfies. 🙂
A fun post, Mike, and great to add to the record of you and your trip. And showing off your motorcycle side.