ABSTRACT
Photographers have always made self-portraits in which they perform to the camera as an actor would perform on stage. This matured in the 1970s when props, masquerade, and play were used to react against prescribed ideas about identity. Since the 1970s, photographers have used the self-portrait to explore postmodern identity theories concerning gender, sexuality and race. As with much of the Conceptualist performance and video art of the period, they treated the face and body as sites on which to challenge political, social, cultural and sexual norms and ideas. The cultural, sociological and political role of the self-portrait continues to be important. From the 2010s, it has been reimagined by artists who explore the presence of the 'selfie' and its role in performing everyday life.
