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Documente Cultură
Extended Essay
Kim Kardashian is an indisputable media mogul, and while much of the population may
view her selfies as a form of narcissism, there is a more profound question to be asked and
answered. This essay examines whether Kim Kardashian’s selfies can be considered a
and the evolution of the selfie. To answer the question, I analyzed several of Kim Kardashian’s
selfies in comparison to traditional artworks. First, the essay investigates whether Kim’s fits into
the idealized look of female beauty through her portrayal of glamour, and creates an aesthetically
appealing self-portrait to all viewers. Next, the essay dissects her selfies to see if the elements of
design were distributed in the composition to make a visually interesting portrait. The last area of
examination deals with capturing the moment, and whether the Kim Kardashian’s selfies
contributes to the portrayal of the artist, through a new dimension of space and time, or a deeper
connection and understanding of the artist. Throughout the paper, comparisons to well-known
self-portraits were provided, to ensure a sufficient depth of analysis was reached to support the
paper’s conclusions. The paper reaches the conclusion that Kim Kardashian’s selfies express a
contemporary form of self-portraiture by the use and distribution of formal elements of design
that contribute to the composition influencing her portrayal of the idealized look of beauty within
herself.
Introduction 2
History of Self-Portraiture 4
Kim Kardashian 7
The Idealized Look 9
Distribution of Elements of Design 13
Capturing the Moment 16
Conclusion 19
Works Cited 20
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INTRODUCTION
The ever increasing popularity of selfies’ was highlighted in 2013 when Oxford
Dictionary UK named “selfie” as their word of the year. They defined selfie as “a photograph
that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social
Personally, it was not until my dad first mentioned the selfie that I knew it was not a
fleeting new trend but was here to make an impact. At first, he opposed the concept, judging
selfie takers at the beach, deciding anyone partaking in the activity to be self-absorbed. However,
at some point in time his perspective changed. Every now and then he will pose for a selfie, and
The perception of the selfie has changed, across all generations. I’m intrigued to know
why; is it because people now view the selfie as an actual art form? For this essay, I intend to
explore whether Kim Kardashian’s selfies are expressing a contemporary form of portrait art.
The act of immortalizing oneself in some artistic form is in no way new or revolutionary.
Self-portraits have been around for centuries taking form in many different types of art:
everything from expressionist painting to hyper realistic sculptures. Taking a selfie is a modern
form of self-expression, allowing viewers a glimpse into a person’s mood, personality, and style,
to name a few. This aspect is incredibly important to social media influencer, Kim Kardashian,
who uses her selfies as a method to connect with her fans. When taking a selfie, the artist is in
control of the outcome, there is no production team. Kim can take a selfie and post it directly to
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social media for followers to see. Therefore a very personal connection is created between the
I think that Kim Kardashian’s selfies express a contemporary form of self-portrait art by
the use of design elements and principles that contribute to the composition and influences the
portrayal of the idealized look of self. The method of investigation used to prove my thesis
includes: the concept of the female idealized look, composition as a design principle dealing with
distribution of elements of design, and adding a dimension of time capturing the portrait in the
moment.
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HISTORY OF SELF-PORTRAITURE
Self portraiture is a form of fine art that deals with a specific subject matter and can be
created through a variety of different medias like sculpture, drawing, painting, and photography.
image, in which their face is the focal point. The purpose of such an art
form can vary. It can produce a faithful visual record of royalty and
aristocracy, class promotion, high social status, wealth and importance. For Fig. 2: (Bacon)
example, in Sir Nathaniel Bacon’s self portrait, he paints himself in lavish clothing to display his
Self-portraits can convey the artist’s physical and emotional state at different points in
conducted many self-portraits and interestingly Fig. 3 was one of the final
few before his death. Art critics suggest that Fig. 3 portrays “ the anxious
In portrait art, the subject must be available to stay in one position for
relatively long periods of time or over the course of many sittings. Self-
clients. Although many could see self-portraits as vain, or narcissistic, Fig. 4: (Arneson)
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Robert Arneson once explained that he creates self-portraits because he’s “free to abuse
[himself], because it’s really dealing with the plastic nature of the expression and not the inherent
sense of character” (Robert Arneson's Portraits Have Nothing to Do with Ego). Self-portraits
allow him to play around with unconventional or inelegant facial expressions, like in Fig. 4,
without running the risk of offending a client (Robert Arneson's Portraits Have Nothing to Do
with Ego).
The accessibility to create self-portraits increased with the invention and the evolution of
the camera. The first known person to take a photographic self-portrait was
taken primarily to test lighting and the optics of the lens. Artists became much
Fig. 5: (Cornelius) more open to experimenting in photography once the Polaroid Camera was
more attractive to amateur photography enthusiasts once the digital camera was invented.
Photographers were able to be selective and delete their photos without having to develop them
Finally, it was the introduction of the front-facing camera on the iPhone 4, in 2010, that
propelled the selfie movement. Self-portraiture became instantaneous, and available to everyone.
Studies from Pew Research Center have found that 26% of the American population have
snapped a minimum of one selfie and shared it to a social media site (More than Half of
Millennials Have Shared a ‘selfie'). Selfies have dramatically changed from earlier forms of self-
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portraiture, creating a significant mark on communication through digital media in our
contemporary world.
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KIM KARDASHIAN
Kim Kardashian West, a Los Angeles born socialite, entrepreneur, model, and reality
television personality, is famously known for “breaking the internet” with her curvaceous figure
in Paper Magazine in November 2014. With connections to the creative industry, Kim worked
with established photographer Jean-Paul Goude to recreate his famous photograph of Carolina
Beaumont known as “Champagne Incident” for her Paper Magazine cover. Goude comments on
selecting Kim for the cover saying her “butt stacks up perfectly between Paleolithic sculptures
like the Venus of Willendorf and [those from] ancient Greece” (Fleming).
Kim is an icon in the fashion industry. Kim has developed solid relationships with
fashion houses and designers like Valentino and Olivier Rousteing, making her a front row
fixture at Fashion Month shows. She owns a chain of boutiques D-A-S-H, that she runs with two
of her sisters, Kourtney and Khloé. Kim’s large family plays an important role in her life. Her
reality television show Keeping Up with the Kardashians has been the base for spin-off shows
like Kourtney and Kim take New York. While the Kardashians are most notably thought of being
famous just for being famous, Kim has successfully amplified her fame through her use of social
With the most liked photo on Instagram in 2014, she has a mass following of 128.6
million on social media (Parks-Ramage). Kim, along with her four sisters, have each created
their own unique media platform in the form of a personal app and website. However, this was
not Kim’s first time venturing into the app world, as she had her own game Kim Kardashian :
Hollywood (which I confess to downloading and playing until I reached the highest level of
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achievement the “A-list”) as well as her own line of emoticons, Kimoji, also available for
In May of 2015, Kim Kardashian released a book of selfies, titled Selfish, by U.S.
publisher Rizzoli, a company that specializes in fine and applied arts publications (Rizzoli
Publications). The first book of its kind, with 445 pages, the book “presents some of Kim’s
favorite selfies in one volume—from her favorite throwback images to current ultra-sexy glam
shots—and provides readers with a behind-the-scenes look into this larger-than-life star” (Rizzoli
Publications). The selfies selected for the book were curated to "a small fraction of the thousands
of selfies [they] considered for publication” (Kardashian). The book has been successful “with
total trade sales of approximately 125,000 copies, domestic and international” (Webber). Critics
questioned why the public would purchase it when they could peruse her Instagram account at no
cost. However, Kim’s marketing efforts through various platforms prompted fans to purchase the
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THE IDEALIZED LOOK
Fig. 6: (Kardashian)
The concept of the idealized female look changes throughout time and cultures. An
important aspect of Kim’s selfies is how she portrays and positions herself to convey the
idealized look of female beauty. As Kim is predominantly the focal point in the majority of her
selfies, her creation of glamour creates a visually interesting picture for her audience, as we can
see in Fig. 6.
To begin, Kim uses body language, positioning herself with her body facing the front
which normally would portray her as open-minded, trustworthy, and sympathetic. However,
confidence. Additionally, her arms create leading lines Fig. 6: (Kardashian, Edited Detail)
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directing our eyes to the focal point which is her face (Van Edwards).
The photo is taken from a bird’s eye view which thins her nose and jawline. A flirty air is
created by her head tilted downwards and her pout with her mouth slightly parted. The pout adds
to the flirtatious vibe and helps to emphasize her cheekbones. Meanwhile, another alluring part
of the photograph would be the combination of colours. In this image Kim combines contrasting
gold/yellow hues with black creating a warning-like effect (Color Wheel Pro - See Color Theory
in Action). This combination makes all of the elements in the photo which are yellow stand out,
Kim would be considered to fit into the societal standards of the female beauty as her
facial features portray heightened secondary sexual features and good skin health and colour.
These qualities are seen as universally attractive as they present the individual who possesses
them to have good genes. These traits have been attractive throughout evolution as they
showcase to potential partners hereditary benefits that would make their child healthier and more
likely to survive. Kim displays emphasized secondary sexual features with her large chest, full
lips, high eyebrows, lack of brow ridge prominence, thin jaw, and soft facial features like her
nose and cheeks (Cohen). These features amplify Kim’s femininity and add to her portrayal of
idealized beauty. Another contributor to her beauty is her favourable skin health and colour. Her
skin is smooth, without any pimples, moles, or skin tags. Her colouring, although somewhat
distorted by the flash, is very consistent throughout. It matches the rest of her body and is absent
of any discoloured patches or red blotches. Her skin is an indicator to overall good health and is
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Fig. 6: (Kardashian)
Fig. 7: (Kahlo)
Many aspects of Kim’s portrayal of female beauty are comparable to those of Frida Kahlo
in her “Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser”. Kahlo, like Kim, portrays good skin health and
colouring. In fact, Kahlo follows female Mexican standards of beauty at the time with rosy
cheeks and red lips. However, Kahlo strays from Western (including Mexican) beauty norms
with her unibrow. Her unibrow created a statement, challenging societal beauty norms, it is
With respects to composition, both self-portraits are very similar. Kahlo’s face is not quite
centered within the painting but slightly to the right, while Kim’s face is a tinge to the left.
Additionally, both artists’ profiles are using a three-quarter view. Yet, with Kim’s eyes facing
forwards she creates an air of contempt, like aforementioned, but Kahlo’s eyes looking to the
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All of these aspects together depict Kim as a version of the idealized standard for female
beauty. Kim’s portrayal of glamour and beauty create an aesthetically appealing self-portrait to
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DISTRIBUTION OF ELEMENTS OF DESIGN
Fig. 8: (Kardashian)
In this selfie, Kim positions herself asymmetrically. However, she balances the photo
using many elements of framing, making her face the focal point. The direction of the bricks on
the back wall have created lines that lead our eyes towards her
creating an arc above her head (10 Top Fig. 8: (Kardashian, Edited Detail 1)
Fig. 8: (Kardashian, The texture of the bricks seems cracked, wrinkling, and rough creating a
Edited Detail 2)
contrast to that of her skin which appears smooth and creaseless. The green
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colour of the wall portrays an idea of harmony, freshness, and growth (Color Wheel Pro - See
Color Theory in Action). The idea of freshness is also reinforced by the rosy colour in her
cheeks. The white of the couch connects to the whites of her eyes, which helps associate her face
as the focal point. The white also creates a stark contrast to her black shirt, hair and facial
features.
Our viewpoint is slightly above eye-level, this angle elongates the nose and narrows the
There is a softer reflection of the white couch that establishes depth in the photograph,
face. The rather bare background ensures that all of our focus is on
uses a lighter brown around his face and dark brown in the
Fig. 9: (van Rijn)
periphery.
The depth creation is similar to Kim’s selfie in which the reflection of the couch distances
Kim from the background making her pop. Both artists’ faces stand out against their dark
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Fig. 9: (van Rijn, Edited Detail 1) Fig. 8: (Kardashian, Edited Detail 4)
backgrounds making their faces seem even more three-dimensional as well. For Rembrandt,
his pale white skin is contrasted by the dark brown; meanwhile for Kim, her fresh golden
Interestingly, both artists’ have very different approaches to their body positioning in their
composition of their portraits. Rembrandt’s body is angled to the side while his face is turned
towards the front. He places himself centered in the middle of the portrait. Kim’s body language
is similar to that of Fig. 6, her chest is facing forwards while her head is angled in a three-quarter
view of her profile, once again creating a mood of superiority. However, like previously stated,
The new perspective that contributed to Kim’s visually compelling self-portrait is due to
the highly realistic treatment of her face and dramatic off-center composition.
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CAPTURING THE MOMENT
In contrast to typical rules of portrait art, Kim manages to create a visually interesting
photograph through capturing the moment. In art, capturing the moment means an artist has
immortalized a scene that reproduces a unique moment in time and will likely evoke some
nostalgia or personal reflection. The nature of digital instant record and the purpose of this type
of artwork is to show the sitter in a dynamic movement in order to emphasize the action and the
concept of the female idealized look, and composition as a design principle dealing with
distribution of elements of design. This is because this style of portrait is often so spontaneous
that focus of attention changes (formal design principles are foregone) in order to catch the
emotion and action before it is lost. This is evident in Fig. 10, my main image that I will
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As we can see in Fig. 10, Kim is positioned in the lefthand edge while the focus of
attention, the elephant, takes the spotlight. In this style of self-portrait, the sitter is
usually off-centre and the content of the action takes precedence. As evident in the
photo, Kim is making an awkward face which opposes how she typically will pose for
a selfie looking her absolute best. In this picture, she is positioned at an unflattering
angle without her whole head in frame, and looking somewhat uncomfortable. Fig. 10:
(Kardashian,
Detail)
The focus of attention is the action, itself, not the artist, and the self-portrait
may sometimes appear awkward, unusual, or even hidden. This is also apparent in “Las
Meninas”. Diego Velasquez purposefully placed himself to the left of the painting, making
the painting. The source of light comes from what seems like
appears awkwardly in the photo. However, in this sense he seems almost outcast from the
happenings in the painting as if he’s an onlooker unable to participate in the adventures of the
Both self-portraits have purpose to portray the emotion of the artists. In Kim’s selfie, her
face gives an impression of being incredibly nervous but with a tinge of excitement to meet this
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elephant. Whereas Velasquez looks somewhat lonely and unappreciated. The painting captures a
specific moment in his life and demonstrates his disposition to it. “Las Meninas” depicts what his
In a self-portrait, the artist tries to capture the moment in time to dictate the past and
future. This moment is part of the time sequence that contributes to the story-telling and
understanding of the role of the artists and their emotion within the composition. These self-
portraits serve almost like a visual diary. Looking at them shows the age of the artist, their
setting, their actions and emotions towards all of this. They permit artists to look back and reflect
upon their emotional status and momentous life events. In conclusion, this type of self-portrait
contributes to the portrayal of the sitter because it gives a new dimension of space and time,
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CONCLUSION
To conclude, Kim Kardashian should be considered a self-portrait artist, as her selfies
express a contemporary form of self-portraiture because she effectively depicts the conceptual
female idealized look, through body positioning, proportion and facial features, and the portrayal
elements of design are sufficiently distributed, with principles brought forward like the focus of
attention, contrast, and space within her selfies to make visually interesting portraits. Finally, she
successfully captures the moment in another of the selected selfies contributing to the her
portrayal to the public. She achieves this through immortalizing her action in a new dimension of
space and time, and thus giving deeper connection and understanding of her character and life.
Even a year after publishing Selfish, her book of selfies, I was unable to find any formal
art criticism on her selfies. This may be due to the fact that her selfies may still not be considered
formal portrait art. This proved difficult to double-check my analysis and required a lot of
original thought based off my knowledge and research of principles and elements of design,
beauty ideals, and capturing the moment in art. I limited my scope of the essay by comparing
Kim Kardashian’s selfies to famed traditional self-portraits. I chose to do this because the works
I selected were already very established in the art community and were innovators of their time,
putting forwards now highly recognized principles of design. In contemporary art, digital
technology has had a large impact on self-portraits, and the advancement of technology
continuously improves the quality and form of selfies, something that could be explored further
in a variety of contexts.
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WORKS CITED
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"Color Wheel Pro - See Color Theory in Action." Color Wheel Pro: Color Meaning.
Day, Elizabeth. "How Selfies Became a Global Phenomenon." The Guardian. Guardian
News and Media, 13 July 2013. Web. 21 May 2016.
Fig. 2: Bacon, Nathaniel. Sir Nathaniel Bacon. 1625. National Portrait Gallery, London.
Fig. 3: Warhol, Andy. Self-portrait. 1986. Guggenheim, New York. Guggenheim. THE
Fig. 4: Arneson, Robert. Honk. 1972. Jeffrey Spahn Gallery. Artnet. Artnet Worldwide
Fig. 5: Cornelius, Robert. Robert Cornelius, Self-portrait; Believed to Be the Earliest Extant
American Portrait Photo. 1839. Library of Congress, Washington. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag.
Fig. 6: Kardashian, Kim. Front Facing Selfie. 2014. Selfish. New York: Rizzoli, 2015. 355. Print.
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Fig. 7: Kahlo, Frida. Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr Eloesser. 1940. Private Collection.
Fig. 8: Kardashian, Kim. Selfie in Front of Green Background. 2014. Selfish. New York: Rizzoli,
Fig. 9: Van Rijn, Rembrandt Harmenszoon. Self-portrait. 1650. Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe,
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Print.
Fig. 11: Velasquez, Diego. Las Meninas. 1656. Guggenheim. Guggenheim. THE SOLOMON R.
Fleming, Kirsten. "Meet the Man Who Helped Kim Kardashian Break the Internet." New York
Kardashian, Kim. "Book Jacket Note." Introduction. Selfish. New York: Rizzoli, 2015. N. pag.
Print.
Little, Anthony C., Benedict C. Jones, and Lisa M. DeBruine. "Facial Attractiveness:
Evolutionary Based Research." Home. The Royal Society Publishing, 2 May 2011. Web.
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Parks-Ramage, Jonathan. "What Are The Kardashians Really Worth?" Refinery29. Refinery29,
"Photography." Kim Kardashian West: Selfish Written by Kim Kardashian West. Rizzoli
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"Rizzoli Publications." Rizzoli New York. Rizzoli International Publications, n.d. Web. 11 Sept.
2016.
"Robert Arneson's Portraits Have Nothing to Do with Ego." SFMOMA. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Sept.
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Taylor, Paul. "More than Half of Millennials Have Shared a 'selfie'" Pew Research Center RSS.
Van Edwards, Vanessa. "How to Take the Perfect Selfie | Science of People." Science of People.
Webber, Stephanie. "Kim Kardashian's Selfish Book Wasn't a Flop After All: Details!" Us
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