Are You Your Body?

Coffrey: I've seen a lot here on the wire, a lot of people who post.... well either a lot of pictures of just themselves or provocative pictures of themselves. To be clear, I'm not some prudish "Hide the boobies!" kind of person, it's just interesting that people would do it, their motivations. Of course inquiring on this subject might make me seem like, for lack of a better term, a creep. I think this because I have never thought of myself as just my body, my face, etc. This has no spiritual context, I think that we ultimately are our physical processes, what I'm trying to say is the thing that is me is what I say, what I do. Maybe that is because in my offline so called "real world" I am less engaged with the people than I am online, where you can know someone outside of their physicalness. Or it might be because every person that has the same mindset as a person who post a lot of pictures of themselves or explicit pictures are generally vapid people who are far less appealing than watching paint dry.

I don't know if I have a question, maybe just a question to the people I refer to (or not, offer your insights on this), why all the pictures, who are they for, what's the point? I mean other than showing off, being self-obsessed, of course.

Corwin: I feel that my essence of being resides in my frontal cortex, and my body is like a vehicle that transports this consciousness from place to place. That being said, people also post photos of their pretty cars or shiny motorcycles that they are also proud to be owners of.

Hmmmm...... this does make me think though... I'm a photographer, and I have some of my best work posted up. Am I showing off?? Maybe... but what would be the point of being a photographer if not to share my work with others?.... work which I am extremely proud of. Is that vain?

Aura: Well yes, but then again I do not believe a little vainity is a bad thing *see 3 pic galleries with my own work*
At the same time, I've posed for a few of those pics coffrey is talking about (before anyone asks; no I will not post them to wire) Because yes, I am my mind, I also happen to be my body. And in 20 year or so it would be nice to have a reminder that in the past, I had the body that someone was willing to capture. (sitting for a painting is ofter litterrally a pain in the butt, so thank god for digital pics ) This too is vanity and again there is nothing wrong with it.
If we were meeting in a bar or coffee shop to have this conversation, I would have put on some clothes that I thought made me look good and put on some makeup. This too is vanity, but would you think me shallow form putting in that effort?

Coffrey: Nooo, I think I've been misunderstood. I'm not saying that not to look good or appreciate your looks, what I'm saying is those people who post dozens of pictures in the same poses or places or whatever, that aren't..... you know, normal pictures that people take, that are documentations of where you are or how you look at a particular time, know what I mean? I'm not saying you can't take provocative photos, but just as you said, you wouldn't publicly post them on here for all to see, yet there are those who do And I just wonder why. Like your pictures, Caff, are normal, they are you in different places and situations, documentations.

Corwin: Good point Zen. I think without vanity in some form or other, there would be no artists... certainly no models.

I am also guilty of posting a full-body shot of myself in my own photos here... it is a raw photo that I took primarily for a photography website logo... but I also find myself proud of how I look at 44 years old (yeah, I know.. not 36)... I did make sure I looked at my best... I trimmed my face, tried to be as much "me" as I could (that was kind of the point) and I guess it is a bit vain that I tried my best to look my best.

But I display myself proudly... maybe I have a bit of an edge being a pro-photog... but you'd be surprised how hard it is to get a photo of myself.... (I'm always photographing others.)

But I will say.. my wife snapped the shutter... I set the shot up... but this is me... as best as it has been captured to date.

Aura: haha, I think I've edited a bit too much in the previous post. It's a fine line between getting the point I want to make accross and sounding like you're bragging.
The 'normality' of my pics has very little to do with 'for all to see'. I was indeed talking about the same sort of pics you've mentioned and no I won't post 'em to *wire*. First off, there are rules about that sort of thing and I really do feel that since I am using this site I should kind of follow them. That's just being polite and you can blame my mom for that. Secondly, when I did post some along those lines (cut so that they would fit the rules) I kept being accused of using fake pics. It's annoying as hell, not just because they were not fake, but if I wanted fake I could find a whole lot better fake than me
Now that I think about it, that might have even more to do with the quantity of pics than self obsession. Sure, you might download 2 or 3 of a random model, but 20? less likely. Try this, next time you see one of those loads-of-pics-profiles look for a few among them where she is holding either a paper with writing on them ("for -username-" is always popular) or one holding a newspaper with a date or something. That's just someone trying to proof she is real.
She is probably also rather young. It will take a while to realize you do not need to proof anything to anyone online. Even IF (and that's a big if) you can convince them what do you gain from it?

Corwin: Although.... now that I think of it.... I really should upload a few hundred shots of myself in a bra and panties, photographing myself in a mirror while making a face like a duck.

You'd like to see that, wouldn't you Zen?