So tell me about the thoughts you’ve been having about online identity.
Well, we first met when you posted a little art video I made to your blog. At that time I was brand new to the internet. Like… brand new. I was very late in the game coming to technology. I think this was 2008. I just wasn’t around internet culture. Everyone had a MySpace page or was on Flickr or something, and I didn’t even own a computer. When I finally got a computer (and an email account) I was just sort of blown away at this whole other world that was happening. I remember I joined Twitter kind of early. This was the days of the “fail whale” and everyone talking about how Twitter would just break if ever a celebrity joined. It was mostly a bunch of tech people and artists on there.
I became really inspired by all the creativity that was happening with blogs and artists. I used to be very artistic when I was younger but the habit of it sort of fell away from me. I decided to start my blog Americanvirus (www.americanvirus.com) as a way to start exploring being creative again. I thought I would do video and painting. I bought a camera to sort of track my creative progress visually, but then the camera took over and photography ended up being more of my creative outlet.
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There was something really liberating about not having my real name connected to me, especially since I was trying to explore being creative… I think it helped me grow as an artist.
So, I had literally just started my blog and bought my first camera when I made that video you linked to. You were like one of my first internet connections! I remember being so excited because some woman on the other side of the world decided to post my little art video to her blog. I remember thinking, “Oh My God!! How does something like this just happen.” Now of course it seems silly with people sharing stuff all the time. And maybe, even then, I was a little overboard with my excitement… but actually, I don’t think so. I’m still very amazed at how quickly something can spread across the internet. I wouldn’t have a job right now if that wasn’t the case.
As for my identity at the time, my Twitter handle was @americanvirus which was also of course the name of my blog. I originally didn’t have a bio page on my blog, so everyone online knew me as Americanvirus. There was something really liberating about not having my real name connected to me, especially since I was trying to explore being creative. I had so much more freedom with whatever I could say or do… because it really wasn’t being traced back to me. I could experiment and fall on my face, but at the end of the day I could just walk away from the computer and be Jonas again. I think it helped me grow as an artist.
Now, it’s become more complicated because my blog became my income stream. My photography has become a full time job. Facebook has also complicated the matter because I friend all of my clients. It used to be when I met people they’d say, “Oh hey, you’re Americanvirus!” Now, everyone knows my name. My business is Jonas Seaman Photography. So, there’s a little bit more pressure. Identity-wise, it’s all a little bit more close to home now.
Where did the name Americanvirus come from?
I thought it sounded cool.
I was in a band and I was making little DVD videos of our shows and wanting to make zines, so I thought it would be a cool name for a record company or something. Everything I was making said “Americanvirus Presents” on it, as if it wasn’t really just me making this stuff in my bedroom. It wasn’t the most internet savvy decision in the world to give the name to my blog. Having the word “virus” in your URL doesn’t always inspire confidence.
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I still get blown away. This is a world that would have been truly unimaginable to me just five or six years ago.
It’s interesting what you say about sharing. We take content sharing for granted now, but I remember feeling a similar sense of awe back then as what you described. Also, I think I interact more these days with other people in my geographic locality, where as I used to interact a lot with people all over the world.
I’m still interacting with lots of people globally, but I have found more of a local community online who I’ve actually connected with in person. Recently some of my internet photography friends from around the world started a Facebook Group called ‘Mexico Buddies’ where we all planned a trip to meet each other in Mexico. A dozen of us ended up there in February. It was kind of amazing. People from Canada, America, and the UK. That’s where I still get blown away. This is a world that would have been truly unimaginable to me just five or six years ago.
A woman from Qatar contacted me last year to have me photograph her family. I ended up flying to the Middle East with my girlfriend Mary for a five day photo session there. We’ve shot internationally before, but this is the farthest we’ve ever gone for a commission. Now that woman and I are Facebook friends, but I also feel like we’re friends in real life. So, it has brought me closer to so many people.
You said your online and offline identities merged at one point – or Americanvirus merged with Jonas. Was there a particular point in time, or event where you decided, this has to happen?
It was an intentional decision. I needed to have a portfolio so I chose Jonas Seaman Photography as a business name. I was told by others that it was a very bad branding decision to have my blog name different than my business name, but I didn’t have the heart to change it. Even though I’m posting mostly my professional work there now, it still is more of a personal blog. No matter what, I can keep that blog as my own personal space and journal. So now I have these two identities I guess, but actually more and more I think people know me now as Jonas Seaman. Then again in Mexico I was hanging out with this great photographer from England. I was introduced as Jonas Seaman. Then after a few days he said, “You’re Americanvirus, right?” It made me happy to think that he might not have known. That I’m still Americanvirus to somebody out there.
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If Facebook and Twitter is like this big party, and some people are showing others pictures of their kids, and some people are talking about this great meal they had, I feel like sometimes I’m just walking around handing out my business card.
I still think of you as Americanvirus. I call a lot of people I’ve met online by their nicknames in my head.
I totally do the same. I even do it with Facebook names of friends in real life. I have a friend name Mel, but her Facebook is Melanie… so I’m always calling her Melanie in my head.
I feel like I’m less funny now online than I was when I was just Americanvirus. Not that I was super funny. But I’m much more aware now of clients and people knowing it’s me. I definitely censor myself more.
Also, my online presence has become very wrapped up in my business so it feels a lot less personal now. I post a ton of pictures and links to my blog posts and stuff like that. I have more personal interactions in chats and texts with people now. If Facebook and Twitter is like this big party, and some people are showing others pictures of their kids, and some people are talking about this great meal they had, I feel like sometimes I’m just walking around handing out my business card. I don’t want it to be like that, and I’ve started trying to post more personal stuff… but of course “trying” to post more personal stuff isn’t really being personal.
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I don’t want to be fake.
Do you think you’re creating a version of your personal self for your professional brand? I often wonder about celebrities who share “personal” things on social media, and how much of that is staged so we feel like we’re seeing who they really are.
Yes. Exactly. That’s what I mean by “trying” to post something personal isn’t really very personal. I’m definitely not trying to create a version of myself for my professional brand… but I’ve become much more aware about what I am posting. I feel my feed has become a little more boring because of it. I was saying something about that on Facebook and one of my friends commented, “Yeah, you used to be funny… but I still like your photography”.
Something personal that’s happened recently is that I just got engaged. So lately, posting personal stuff has been easy because I’m in the middle of an actual life event. Then again, everyday I want to just announce to the world how excited I am about it, and I have to reign myself in. So, revealing aspects of my life right now isn’t as much of a problem. It’s when I’m in the middle of a busy season and I’m being a workaholic, and I realize months have gone by and all I’ve done is post pictures and links to my work on Facebook. I start hearing the voices of all those silly internet gurus saying you have to share yourself in order to create an interesting brand. But I’m not going to just start talking about what I had for dinner because that would be “good for my brand.” That’s crazy.
There’s also this opposite situation. When I first started out following other photographers I would see them post how they’re at an airport flying off to some exotic locale for a photoshoot and I would be very envious. Now, I’ll find I’m in an airport heading out for a photoshoot and I’ll want to post about it because it’s truly exciting to be doing this job, but I’m scared I’m just going to come off wrong, like I’m bragging. So, I get on the plane and the internet doesn’t know about it, and in the end, it doesn’t really matter. The pictures will still be posted to my blog anyway. But yeah, I’m starting to overthink things a little.
I don’t want to be fake.
It’s interesting, the idea of not being fake, “authenticity” and “being myself” has come up in a few chats I’ve had with people so far. I sometimes wonder what “authenticity” really is, and whether it is ever possible to accurately represent oneself, even in offline situations.
I think it’s important, especially since we’re using all this technology as tools for communication.
In offline situations I think we do what we can. It’s kind of like writing a letter in the rain. As soon as the words come out they wash away and we can only hope for the best. We’re given tools like our words and body language and we know about certain social cues. So, in the offline world we have a lot more going for us.
Online communication is completely different. There’s no body language. There’s no inflection.
I think there is a real parallel between communication with pictures and communication on social media. There’s this quote I read the other day by Henri Focillon. He said, “Photography is like the art of another planet.” That’s exactly how I feel about Instagram and Facebook sometimes. I feel like I’m looking in on another planet. These beings look like us. They sound like us. But they are definitely not us. It’s because everything is out of context, and there’s so much information missing. It’s the same with making pictures. You’re enclosing the world in a frame. You’re removing a moment from it’s overall context. So, when you have all that going on, all those limitations to your communication, it’s really important to hold onto some semblance of authenticity if you can. Maybe that sounds a little out there.
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People are always scared of new technology and cultural shifts.
When I was a kid it was television. Television was ruining children. There was all kinds of pseudo-science to prove it. Before that, it was Rock N’ Roll. Every generation seems to have its threat to the cultural norm.
Are you ever concerned about our use of online technology or are you pretty optimistic generally about the future of our digital lives?
I’m more optimistic. Where one person is saying, “Oh, it’s such a shame that teenager is just locked into her phone,” I’m thinking, “Yeah. It’s horrible how she wants to stay updated on current events and chat with her loved ones.”
People are always scared of new technology and cultural shifts.
When I was a kid it was television. Television was ruining children. There was all kinds of pseudo-science to prove it. Before that, it was Rock N’ Roll. Every generation seems to have its threat to the cultural norm.
I don’t think digital technology is all roses. There’s government spying, hackers, and privacy issues to contend with. But overall, I don’t think teenagers being connected and texting is going to be the end of the world. In fact, I think it’s more of a positive development than a negative one.
Photo credit: Helena of Helena and Laurent Photography, www.helenaandlaurent.com
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