The Evolution of Self Portraits:
A selfie (/’selfi?/) is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or camera phone held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Have you ever asked yourself, who came up with this term? Or who was the innovative person to actually attempted the world’s first selfie? Since man has had the need to document himself (which is naturally not too long after he came into existence); self-portraiture has existed in one form or another. Throughout history we see evidence of diverse self inscription, but nothing like the recent obsession with selfies. According to vulture.com we ought to, “Recall…the skewed look of the early cell-phone snap. If both your hands are in the picture and it’s not a mirror shot, technically, it’s not a selfie—it’s a portrait.”
Throughout art history we see the masters such as Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer, Leonardo da Vinci and Frida Kahlo documenting themselves and immortalizing portraits. In reflection of their daily lives, we glimpse their realities whether bitter or sweet. The modern selfie however, tends to evade all anguish or struggles in life. Amid the photo filters, clever angles and fantastic lighting- these digital masterpieces tell rather appealing sometimes fictional tales.
Rambling, I know… back to who took the first selfie. When I googled “first selfie” it revealed quiet an interesting feed. All in all, it turns out that this ‘modern phenomenon’ is WAY older than you may think. It is believed the first known selfie was taken by Robert Cornelius in 1839. Some persons will argue that five gentlemen were the photographers of the Byron Company ( c.1892) were the ones responsible for this photography staple. The truth is, it’s hard to tell. What isn’t debatable however is that they have been around much longer than you could imagine.
Have you ever taken a selfie? While I can’t see if you’re raising your hand or not; can we agree that it’s been difficult to resist the urge to do so? Their casual and fun nature keep them current and engaging. Ask Pope Francis, he’s taken quite a few.
