MANDEVILLE, LA (WGNO) — If you haven’t posted one — or hundreds — yourself, you’ve no doubt seen plenty of them. The selfie is not only an accepted way for people to record their activities, in many cases the photos are expected.
But perhaps you find your news feed a little overgrown with the high-tech yet still organic images. Not Rob Fairburn.
“I’ve been an artist since I could hold a pencil,”Rob says.
But more recently, he’s started relying on that more modern form of self-expression for his artistic inspiration.
Rob seeks out selfies — maybe one of yours — on social media websites. And while some viewers of the images might roll their eyes, Rob sees opportunity and inspiration.
“With the internet, you can search hashtag selfies, and you’ve got lots of really great images,” he says. He says he understands why many people like taking selfies and why others would rather not see them.
“I think it has sort of caused a need for attention that’s not healthy,” Rob says of selfies. “But I also think it’s just people, like, ‘Hey I just went to the park,’ which is not a bad thing.”
Regardless, Rob looks for interesting features in your photos and turns the selfies into fantastic works of art. He says, from what he can tell, most people take the photos in their bathrooms, using their mirrors. He also thinks the images reflect a big change in what makes for a good photo.
“Not even 20 years ago, you didn’t take a picture of yourself unless you were doing a big thing, an event. Now, you walk out your door, you take a picture; you get in your car, you take a picture.”
“It’s all to document to other people that you’re out there, as a person. I thought it would be interesting to take those images and treat them as portraits.”
Along with searching for selfies himself, Rob says plenty of people ask him to paint theirs. If you’d like to see more examples, click on the video button above.
And if you’d like to reach out to Rob, he has pages on Instagram and Facebook and says those are the best ways to contact him.