Selfies can be a lot of fun, but they are generally not a good idea for your modeling portfolio and I’m going to share with you 5 reasons why.
Point of Clarification: The selfies I am referring to are arm’s length selfies and mirror selfies. Some people refer to self portraits taken with a DSLR or digital camera on a timer or with a remote as selfies, but in this case I’m not referring to those.
1. Low Quality
Even with a great cell phone, selfies are generally a lower quality than those taken by a DSLR or newer digital camera. The photos you include in your portfolio should be of high quality.
2. Distortion
Particularly with arm’s length selfies, you see distortion. For example, it can often make your head look huge and your body look small. It might be flattering for showing off your makeup or just a quick check-in on Facebook, but it’s not a good fit for your portfolio.
3. Lighting/Color Balance
Very, very often the selfies I see are not color balanced well and they tend to look very yellow (usully due to the type of lighting). Again, this is fine for casual photos on social media, but not for your portfolio.
4. Indicates Lack of Seriousness
Selfies in your portfolio make it look as if you’re approaching modeling as a very casual thing and like you don’t really care. I know that might not actually be how you feel, but it can be how it looks to others.
5. Indicates Lack of Experience
Including selfies in your portfolio can often make you look amateur-ish and also makes it appear like you do not know how to choose photos for a portfolio. I can also look like you haven’t done any shoots.
When selfies can be helpful… I don’t want to make you think that selfies don’t have any place at all for a model. They can be a great way to show a new hair cut or color before you model with the new cut or color, for example. I occasionally use selfies to show an outfit I’m considering for a shoot so the photographer can see if it fits their vision. Basically, they’re okay as a temporary thing, but make sure they’re clearly noted as such and that you remove them as soon as you can replace them with something else.
As always, this is just my advice to you. What do you think about selfies for models? Let me know in the comments.
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