Sorelle Amore - Take Your Selfie Seriously: The Advanced Selfie Handbook

My personal journey with self-portraits started by accident. Although I had been a photographer for about two years, I wasnt a professional. Through an internship and a ton of practice, I spent time soaking up as much knowledge as I could from behind a camera. I attempted to capture the beauty of Mother Nature, and took endless photographs of other women. It was during my time photographing women that I honed my skill at teaching them how to pose, in order to bring out their best features and, in turn, help them fall in love with images of themselves. This, I think, is what became one of the most important parts of learning to take great shots of myself.

However, things were still fairly normal in my photographic journey, until one very specific fairy-tale event in my life: I landed a job that required me to travel full-time around the world for three months, staying in luxurious homes in a dozen countries. Yep, terrible, I know! The thing was, I was required to shoot beautiful images not only of these homes, but also of myself enjoying them. And, unfortunately for me, no professional photographer or plus one would be coming with me. Since a simple front-camera selfie would definitely not cut it in the quality department, I needed to learn how to capture myself in these magnificent homes in a way that would do them justice.

When I began, I was convinced I wasnt capable of taking a good photo of myself. I thought I was too tall, lanky and awkward, with a giant mouth. I shied away from being in front of the camera. But necessity was the mother of invention. I practised. I played. I experimented. I learned. As you may experience yourself, the beginning of my journey was not smooth, and I looked like a scarecrow at best. But a little voice told me to stick with it. So I took another photo, and another, and another, with the slim belief in the back of my mind that maybe, just maybe, Id one day end up with images of myself that I wouldnt just like, Id love.

In a relatively short time I figured out how to take images of myself that were worthy of inclusion in a high-fashion magazine, shot with nothing more than a camera and a few simple tools. (Mind you, I had zero experience being a model, and my experience behind a camera was still fairly limited). I ended up naming my method of self-photography the Advanced Selfie, because I wanted to make the process seem less serious (after all, in the end, learning to take your own photo is just a fun exercise), and also because I found the name wildly hilarious.

Fast-forward two years and Ive created more than 1,000 of these self-photography art pieces (which can be found on Instagram @sorelleamore), serving as both photographer and subject. The images have obviously been well received, as my Instagram audience has grown to over half a million followers at the time of writing. My perseverance has brought me to a place where millions of people have watched my videos on the subject, Ive been published in media outlets around the world, and now youre reading this as I pass my artistic skills on to you.

Ive also created the Advanced Selfie University (see www.advancedselfie.co), where Ive so far taught over 4,500 students how to perfect my method of stunning self-photography. My videos on YouTube (where Ive amassed an audience of 1 million people) on the subjects of self-portraits, photography and posing have been viewed more than 35 million times, and the hashtag #AdvancedSelfie on Instagram has been used in more than 150,000 images. I breathed life into the Advanced Selfie, but since then its taken on a life of its own.

When I started my Advanced Selfie journey, I was strongly under the impression that I couldnt photograph well. A long history of bad photos of me were confirmation of that. With desperation in my heart and a tiny glimmer of hope, I started photographing myself in secret, with huge embarrassment, hoping against hope for results that would prove me wrong. Luckily, they did.

Its strange to say it, but part of my job is to take photos of myself, and teach others how to do the same. Twenty years ago that might have sounded like a far-fetched thing to do for a living, but in todays digital world, practising an art form like this as a job is definitely not as abnormal (even though it does still raise some eyebrows).

A job, sure. But an art form? Surely not. Well, just give me a chance. The possibilities of expressing yourself in this way are endless. You just have to get the basics down, and maybe learn a little confidence, and then the journey of exploration and infinite creativity will open up for you. When I began, I couldnt have imagined where learning to take self-portraits would lead me. And with that in mind, I encourage you to start. Just start.

Im beyond thankful that you chose to pick up this book and let me share my art with you. Because this art form has transformed my life, and I truly hope it does the same for you. Youre unstoppable I believe in you!

And with that, lets begin

Sorelle Amore

x

When I speak to others about taking self-portraits, eyebrows are raised and eyes are rolled (I can even tell if there is an internal eye roll). Its easy to assume that self-portraits are nothing more than vanity, but, having studied the art form for years now, Ive learned that capturing ourselves in art is something thats been going on for as long as our species has a recorded history.

Humans are obsessed with the idea of capturing their presence in the history of time. Initially, this was expressed by scratching simple drawings on to the walls of caves, but over time it evolved into inscribing images of ourselves on papyrus, slapping paint on to canvas, remembering our lives with words on paper and, eventually, the modern art form of photography. Weve always wanted to preserve a part of ourselves that will live on long after we draw our last breath.

Beyond this, self-portraits are a way for us to study ourselves and improve the way others perceive us. Often, when we are at the mercy of someone elses camera shutter, we have little control over the result. And most people find it discouraging to see themselves in a not-so-flattering light.

Undertaking the study and mastery of self-portraiture allows you to enhance your best angles. Just like a sculptor accentuating the curves of his model in stone, or a painter revealing her subject on canvas in the perfect light, you will learn what makes you stand out on camera, and how to avoid those angles that dont make your features pop.

It may not be a definition that holds up with art scholars, but when I think about the self-portrait in this way, I cant help but see it as art. Like any art form, it requires the right execution, but youll learn how to do this over time with exercises in self-awareness and self-improvement.