Can I take selfies or photographs of people, given differing scholarly views on images?

Yes, this is a genuinely disputed area with three broad positions among scholars. Some hold that photography of any living being (human or animal) falls under the same prohibition as drawing/painting living creatures found in classical hadith, and is impermissible except by necessity. Others distinguish photography (a mechanical capture of a real image) from drawing (creating an image from imagination), arguing the hadith texts were addressing artists/idol-makers specifically, and hold that photography — including selfies — is generally permissible as long as the content itself is modest and not used for haram purposes (idolization, immodesty, deception).

A middle, increasingly common contemporary view — held by many scholars including several associated with SeekersGuidance and similar institutions — permits ordinary photography for legitimate purposes (identification, memories, education, journalism, professional needs) while still discouraging excessive or vain photo-taking, and remaining cautious about images that could be used disrespectfully (of the deceased, of women shared inappropriately, etc.). Given the range of views, many South Asian Muslims follow whichever position their family's trusted scholar or madhab teaches, and it's reasonable to ask a local imam which view they follow before assuming either extreme.

Source: for the restrictive view, see hadith on image-makers (musawwirun) as discussed at Mathabah; for the permissive/distinguishing view, see SeekersGuidance, "What Is the Ruling on Photographing, Filming, and Drawing Animate Life?" and Dar al-Ifta.