‘SNAP OUT OF IT!’ By Ananya Thakkar

Thesis Abstract:

My thesis explores possibilities in style, vibe and the true sense of casual, drawing from the filtered portrayal of ourselves on social media. Our obsession with the “want” to be perfect and our insatiable need to be ‘liked’ have psychologically fractured us, leaving us with a distorted sense of wholeness, beauty and morality. So here you see the distortion of the idea of a self portrait almost completely through me using MYSELF as a canvas.

What is a portrait ANYMORE? We are living in the age of Instagram and Snapchat making each person look like a fashion-magazine model and feel like a photographer. “Filters have replaced reality and are providing a form of escapism. It has become so easy for a person to alter himself or herself and distort themselves to reach a level that the world watching voyeuristically through social media, deems attractive and desirable; strangely unconscious of the fact that this also amounts to deceiving the rest of the world. People feel the need to be this way because of a lack of self-confidence, and because of the expectations of spectacle on social platforms.

THEY WANT APPROVAL. ‘Likes and comments’ on pictures are probably the sole reason why people even put up things on social media. Has external approval become so important? Is our need for exhibitionism closely linked to our anxiety for desirable social positioning?

Credits- Ananya Thakkar