My ‚image of the day’ is a series of ‚images of the day’ by Mike Mellia.
Mike also posts each day a picture of himself in a series that has the name „ A selfie a day keeps the doctor away’.
Ah, a series of selfies’ you think. Right. You could call them selfies, but in the old days they were called graciously ‚Self portraits’.
Mike has humor and this shows in the titles he gives his work. What to think about: „That one time my wife cropped my picture” or „That one time I saw who shot JFK”, or this one: „That one time I visited a Dutch astronomer”?
And it goes on.
That one time I let Bjork dress me/That one time I bought 99 camels in Marrakesh/That one time I spilled my Rogaine/ That one time I flew a hot air balloon in Paris with a wealthy businessman and a Swedish balloonist/That one time Einstein needed help/That one time I partied at the Playboy Mansion/That one time I knew it was you, Fredo…
Check out the images and try to match the description with the corresponding image. Not always easy, as Mike is sometimes very cryptic about his posing.
So, bye bye the typical ‚duck face’ selfies, the typical ‚I am on vacation shots’, the photo shopped ones and the group selfies to show how much fun you had? Not really, because let’s face it, we all take them once in a while, because we can not fight the urge, or ‚the light is so nice’, or this reflection I could not resist….. I admit.
But back to Mike Mellia’. His Instagram project “A Selfie a Day Keeps the Doctor Away” is getting in the heart of selfie culture. He takes a self portrait „every day”, making small stories with subtitle props like turbans, hats, swaths of silk, but also here and there an extra person, a chair and set-matching clothes. The fun thing is that he seems always be ‚thinking’. Thinking about things in history, in his life or just a poetic thought, using references from contemporary culture like art and advertising. Like the Marxist inspired pose with the subtitle “That one time I asked the workers of the world to unite.”. Not another stupid, silly selfie heum?
Mike knows damn well he plays with the selfie culture and how social media is influencing self-portraiture.
Why not follow this ongoing Instagram account like 2654 others. But know this: Mike does not post every day!! Sometimes there are 6 days between two pictures, sometimes even 2 weeks,….( A bit like me actually now that I mention it….….).
Today, already 74 portraits are taken, and let’s hope many will follow.
Keep up the nice challenge Mike! I’ll try to keep up with mine ( I took the challenge to post 365 inspirational images/stories this year!!! Check it out and encourage me, like I did with Mike 🙂
Later!
Kate
All images courtesy of Mike Mellia.
