AKTUALNOŚCI

LIFE IN BLACK & WHITE

Once, a lake was enough.

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a young man of extraordinary beauty.

He rejected the love of others until the gods punished him by making him fall in love with his own reflection. He did not know he was looking at himself. He thought it was someone else — more beautiful, more perfect, more worthy of love than all those he had previously turned away.

He gazed into the surface of the water for so long that he lost contact with reality.

He did not recognize that it was only an image.

He fell in love with an illusion.

The myth is not only about vanity.

It is about losing a relationship with another human being and replacing it with a relationship with one’s own projection.

Today, we do not need a lake.

A front-facing camera and good lighting are enough.

Let’s not deceive ourselves — taking selfies is not a sin. It is a contemporary form of self-portraiture. If he lived in the 21st century, Narcissus would probably have an Instagram account, an aesthetic feed, and captions like: “Just me, being authentic.” The problem does not begin when we take the photo. The problem begins when we start believing that the photo is us.

Because a selfie does not show a face.

It shows a choice.

An angle.

Light.

A filter.

A decision about which version of ourselves we want to present.

The myth of Narcissus is not really a story about vanity. It is a story about confusing reflection with reality.

About falling in love with an image that does not breathe, does not speak, does not respond. Narcissus did not die because he was beautiful. He died because he could not tear his gaze away from his own illusion.

Does that sound familiar?

Today, the mirror is a screen.

The surface of water — a smartphone display.

The lake — a filter.

The echo — the algorithm.

The silence — notifications.

We are not the only ones looking at ourselves.

Others are looking too.

They count the hearts. They swipe with their fingers.

In a single second, they decide whether we are worth pausing for.

The mirror effect has become global.

Once, a person discovered themselves through relationships.

A face was reflected in another person’s eyes.

Today, it is reflected in numbers.

237 likes. 14 comments. 3 new followers.

It is the digital version of the question: “Am I enough?”

And here lies the irony of our times.

We take selfies to show ourselves.

And the more we show ourselves, the less we know who we are without watching eyes.

Because if no one sees it, does it even exist?

Narcissus looked in silence. We look in noise.

He could not touch his reflection.

We can edit ours with a single click.

He fell in love with an illusion.

We update our illusion every 24 hours.

He died of loneliness.

We often feel lonely despite thousands of followers.

And yet something has not changed.

We still long to be truly seen.

Not as an image.

Not as the “best shot out of 47 attempts.”

But as someone who sometimes has dark circles under their eyes, a trembling voice, and thoughts that cannot be retouched.

Perhaps the problem is not the selfie.

Perhaps the problem is that we stare into the mirror for too long and too rarely turn our gaze toward the world.

Because a mirror will never embrace you.

It will not contradict you.

It will not say, “I see you” — in a way that changes something.

In the myth, Narcissus does not recognize himself.

He looked at himself endlessly and did not know himself at all.

Narcissus did not lose to his own beauty.

He lost to loneliness.

And us?

Perhaps we can still lift our heads from the screen.

Bella Argazam

Bella Argazam Photography

bella@bellaargazamphoto.com

All Images & Original Text

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