What is the difference between a selfie and a self-portrait? For the author the selfie has to do with reputation, the self-portrait with identity. From its birth the medium has offered a mirror before which to measure and define who one is: a third eye able to dig deep into the human soul. This is an intimate and intense gallery running from the end of the nineteenth century to the last one, closing with the interpreters of our own day. Through the self-portraits of these masters the author shows how it is possible to retrace and tell a story — their story. The enquiry into self-representation among women begins from an observation set out in the introduction: "I looked for many self-portraits, over a long time. The ones I found are almost all by women. Women who work with a camera portray themselves always, or nearly always. Men do so much less. It is curious."