Huawei presents the evolution of selfie with London’s Saatchi Gallery

World Today

Huawei presents the evolution of selfie with London's Saatchi Gallery

London’s famous Saatchi Gallery is teaming up with Huawei — the world’s third largest smartphone brand — for an exhibition called From Selfie to Self-Expression.

CGTN’s Kang Yubin reports.

 

From Selfie to Self-Expression is the world’s first exhibition dedicated to the history of the selfie — from the old masters to the present day — whilst it also celebrates its truly creative potential as a form of expression often derided for its inanity…

Nigel Hurst, the CEO of Saatchi Gallery said, “We thought it is very timely as it is part of our lives, it is part of everyday life. So it surprises us because nobody has done it before. ”

Key self-portraits throughout history are being showcased here by artists as diverse as Christopher Baker, Van Gogh and Rembrandt. Visitors can express their preferences by giving a like to the ones they enjoy.

“People in our world look down on them and do not realize that it is the same thing artists have been doing for hundreds of years of self-portraits. It is just the modern way we are doing it,” said Bille, a photography student.

Many artworks also feature interactive, digital and user-generated content. Alongside examples of many influential artists’ work will be selfies that have quickly become icons of the digital era.

The show also highlights the emerging role of the smartphone as an artistic medium for self-expression. It commissioned ten young British photographers to create new works using Huawei’s newest dual-lens smartphone as part of their artistic practice.

Chris Levine, a pioneer of light photography, is one of the ten. His portrait of Queen Elizabeth II Lightness of Being has become a contemporary icon.

“If we looked at the exhibition here at Saatchi, some great works actually are all done by smartphone. It is really a next level. This is future for photography in how digital lens system can be worked in smartphone,” said Chris.

These works shift the focus from selfies to documenting the world around us as a contrasting form of self-expression.

Huawei’s partnership with the Saatchi Gallery follows the launch last year of the Huawei P Series which reinvented smartphone photography with the world’s first dual-lens camera.

The smartphone has become a tool of artistic expression. The Selfie generation is becoming the Self-expression generation as each of us seeks to explore and share our inner creativity through a tool to which we all have access.