Choosing your pet over your partner or kids says a lot about you

Celebrities or fictional characters can bring joy and creativity, while quotes can take on a motivational purpose.

“This choice is about mindset,” Ray explains. “People may choose quotes to motivate themselves, remind them of a value, or keep them focused during a challenging time.”

For 64-year-old Boronia man, Graham Wynn, his phone lock screen features something deeply personal: his beloved Jack Russel Meka, who died 18 months ago, aged 16.

“It’s a picture of her looking at me. She used to sit with me when I was working; she was always there,” he says.

Wynn says that he adopted Meka when she was eight, and she was an emotional support to him through a messy divorce and mental health struggles in its aftermath.

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“I went through some real serious bouts of depression and loneliness,” he says. “And I must admit, there were times when, you know, you’re driving home thinking, who, who would care if I wasn’t here.

“Having the dog there to greet me when I came home and someone to care for and have responsibility for helped me through; she rescued me.”

Wynn has had the same photo on his lock screen since Meka died, and before that had other photos of her.

“Your choice of lock screen says a lot about you. For me, that I’m an animal lover and having Meka specifically brings up a lot of memories and the joy and happiness she brought me,” says Wynn.

For 31-year-old Sutherland man, Blue West, his lock screen image is an AI-generated ‘ideal version’ of himself. West says he found the AI image on an Instagram account he follows, and it immediately resonated with him.

“When I saw it, I went, Oh my God, I freaking love that image. Because for me, I relate so much to that and I wish I had more of it growing up or like saw more of it,” he says.

“[The man in the photo] has a typical male face aesthetic, with beautiful curly hair, square jaw, a bronzed muscular body – the biological sex male characteristics but with these non-typical masculine gendered clothing and jewellery and holding martinis, which are also typically a feminine drink.”

West, who has identified as non-binary in the past but now predominantly uses he/his pronouns, says having a broader representation of masculinity on his lock screen is important for him as it serves as a reminder that it is okay to be himself.

“This image reminds me every time I look at it that I am who I am, and even if I can’t see it externally from myself and other people around me, the image reminds me.”

For West, his lock screen photos always serve a significant purpose.

“I want to be reminded of what I’m missing out on, or I want to be reminded of what I’m working toward,” he says. “Every time I look at that image, I see a man, something, or someone that I’d like to be, that looks put together, safe, and beautiful. And I think for me it represents hope.”

But there are limits. While Ray says that, like in West’s case, photos of yourself can be a sign of confidence, self-celebration, or motivation, perhaps for Trump, it may also be what others have labelled it: narcissism.

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