Other movies that

feature photography:

ISSUE No.2

APRIL

2014

Whasanian

Selfie Craze

When we go out with friends, we often find many people

taking selfies. Selfies are getting more and more popular, and
at the Oscars, the host took a selfie with other Hollywood
stars and his shot was broadcast to millions worldwide. The
selfie was then shared by users
on social networking sites like
Twitter,
Facebook
and
Instagram.
The word selfie first appeared
in 2002 when it was used in an
Australian
online
forum,
according
to
Oxford
Dictionaries online service. A
man posted a picture of injuries
to his face sustained when he
tripped over some steps. He
apologised for the fact that it
was out of focus, saying that it
was not because he was drunk
but because it was a selfie.
Since then, the word has entered
mainstream media vocabulary
and an increasing number of
people use it, especially Internet
users. Research by Oxford
Dictionaries
suggested
its
frequency in the English
language has increased by
17,000% in the last year.

In 2013, it was added to Oxford Dictionaries online dictionary,

and will appear in the printed version some day.
Scientists believe that the obsession with selfies is a result of our
lack of knowledge of what our
own faces look like. We used to
understand how we look by our
muscles and by looking in the
mirror. With a digital camera, we
can make as many self-portraits
as we want until we obtain a
picture that matches the ideal
appearance in our minds, which
is somehow quite different from
how we actually look.

(above) English teachers

taking a selfie , a parody of
the one Hollywood stars
took (left)

Like eating and conversing,

when we take selfies, we need to
observe social norms. Obama,
for example, took a photo with
the British Prime Minister and
the Danish Primister at the
funeral of Mandela, former
President of South Africa. Later,
he was criticised for showing a
lack of respect.
Next time you attend a party,
remember to look around, make
sure youre not disturbing others,
find a good background, gather
your friends, and,

Fun Fact:
Ellen DeGeneres took a selfie at the Oscars with a Samsung phone, but backstage she took another with an iPhone.

CHEESE!

If I ever need to choose between an instant camera and a mobile phone for a selfie, I will
choose a mobile phone. Since a photo from a phone has higher resolution than an instant
photo, a better me can be shown in the photo. In fact, a lot of selfies are used as the avatar
photo icon for an account - for example, Facebook - and I believe that everyone wants to give
a great first impression with a smart selfie. Therefore, I will choose a phone camera to take
selfies until I find an instant camera that can produce photos comparable to digital photos in
terms of picture quality.
Nowadays, with advanced technology, people prefer to take photos with a smartphone or
an instant camera, which has been a craze for some time. The major difference between the
two is that one takes photos instantly while the other stores them electronically. There is no
need to develop pictures in a photo shop if you are using an instant camera, which is very
convenient; the drawback is that once the photo is taken, it cannot be modified.

4C Cheng Ho Ching
English Department

Alvin Cheung 4D
Yan Chai Hospital Wong Wha San Secondary School

Nicola Zini (4B)

There are so many beautiful things in Italy, so if you ever visit youre going to take a
lot of photos! To say photo in Italian we say foto; it sounds exactly like English
even though the spelling is different.

App of the
month

If you meet a good looking Italian and you want to say Lets take a photo!, just say
Facciamo una foto! Then, the next step is the countdown before taking a picture,
3, 2, 1 Cheese is Tre, Due, Uno Sorriso.
Use these phrases in Italy, and all the Italians around you will be amazed!
Here are those phrases again and some new ones that youll also find useful:
Facciamo una foto
Fanne unaltra

Lets take a photo!

Tre, Due, Uno Sorr so 3, 2, 1 Cheese

Take one more (photo)

Language Facts
Have you noticed the name of our newsletter
Whasanian? Do you like it? Whasanian is just a
name. You could say that its a made-up word. If it
were in the dictionary, then the entry would probably
read Whasanian: n. a graduate of the prestigious
educational institution Wong Wha San; adj. meaning:
clever---e.g. That was a very whasanian thing to do!
Every year, new words are added to the equally
prestigious Oxford (school) English Dictionary. That
great German physicist Albert Einstein was

Che bella!

Its so nice!

immortalized a long time ago with an inclusion: the

word einstein means n. genius. It would be nice to
be called one, I think youll agree! While Einstein was
a real living person, Superman is a fictional character.
However, he, too, can be found in the dictionary.
Youd also be happy to be called a superman, a big
compliment! This year, the word Hongkonger was
added. I dont know what the entry description is, but
its probably something like a person born and
residing in Hong Kong. And how about the word
selfie? (Yes, it is a word.) Selfie: the meaning is a
self-portrait photo taken with a hand-held camera.

Christy Chan & Kimmy Ho (1A)

Photo Me Photo Food

Specially developed for self-portrait

addicts, Camera360 Ultimate offers
functionalities including face
recognition, auto-shoot, skin tone
smoother, night portrait and more.
How to take a good selfie?
Here are a few good tips to keep in
mind when trying to capture that
perfect selfie.
-Get a smartphone with a good quality camera
-Make sure you have the appropriate lighting

-Don't force your facial expression

-Experiment with different angles

Word station:

-Go easy on the editing and filter effects

Prefix

A suffix is a group of letters placed at the beginning of a word to

modify or change its meaning.
There are several hundred prefixes. Here are some of the more
common ones:
Prefix

photo-

anti-

Meaning

Examples

connected with
light

photo- + synthesis - photosynthesis

connected with
photography

photo- + journalism photojournalism

opposing, against,
the opposite

anti- + social antisocial

anti- + clockwise Anticlockwise

Selfie-taking is an art of the mobile

era. Have fun with it! Don't take it all
so seriously, and remember that the
most natural looking photos are usually
considered to be among the best.

Your turn
photo__________________
photo__________________
anti__________________

Riddle Me This:

anti__________________

1. A device that nearly everyone has that

can freeze anyone it sees. What is it?
2. You saw me where I never was
and where I could not be. And
yet within that very place, my
face you often see.
3. Why did the boy bury his flashlight?

Photo Hunt
Can you spot 5
differences between
these two images?
English Department

Yan Chai Hospital Wong Wha San Secondary School