English: The first photographic portrait image of a human ever produced. “Robert Cornelius, head-and-shoulders [self-]portrait, facing front, with arms crossed”, approximate quarter plate daguerreotype, 1839 or Nov.. LC-USZC4-5001 DLC Also see: Library of Congress, American Memory, complete source description. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Selfies came to prominence in the early 2010’s when improvements in design – especially the addition of front-facing cameras – started to appear in Smartphones.
Therefore it was no surprise that in 2013 Oxford Dictionaries announced that selfie, meaning a type of self-portrait photograph, had been chosen as the word of the year.
But selfies were nothing new, In the early 2000s, before Facebook became the dominant online social network, self-taken photographs were particularly common on MySpace and Flickr.
Even further back Robert Cornelius, an American pioneer in photography, produced a daguerreotype of himself, in 1839, which was also one of the first photographs of a person. Because the process was slow he was able to uncover the lens, run into shot for a minute or more, and then replace the lens cap. He recorded on the back “The first light Picture ever taken. 1839
Selfie as a word seems to originate on September 13th 2002 in an Australian Internet Forum – ABC Online
Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie
The debut of the portable Kodak Brownie box camera in 1900 led to photographic self-portraiture becoming a more widespread technique. The method was usually by mirror and stabilizing the camera either on a nearby object or on a tripod while framing via a viewfinder at the top of the box.
Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna at the age of 13 was one of the first teenagers to take her own picture using a mirror to send to a friend in 1914. In the letter that accompanied the photograph, she wrote,
“I took this picture of myself looking at the mirror. It was very hard as my hands were trembling.”
Now to my selfie – I’m not a great one for self-portraits. I prefer to be behind the camera not in front. Annie Leibovitz was once asked by Ingrid Sischv “Did she ever think about doing a self-portrait”? Her response sort of sums up my feelings about self-portraits or selfies….
I think self-portraits are very difficult. I’ve always seen mine as straightforward, very stripped down, hair pulled back. No shirt. Whatever light happened to be available. I’d want it to be very graphic – about darkness and light. No one else should be there, but I’m scared to do it by myself. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. The whole idea of a self-portrait is strange. I’m so strongly linked to how I see through the camera that to get to the other side of it would be difficult. It would be as if I were taking a photograph in the dark
So finally, here’s my selfie
That’s me, it’s graphic, about dark and light. I’m on my own on the beach using the last light of the setting sun. It was mid-winter so too darn cold to strip my shirt off and unlike Annie I don’t have any hair to pull back. But I think I’ve managed to achieve the essence of a self portrait as described by Annie. What do you think?
Say It With A Camera 
Interesting narrative, iffy selfie 🙂
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Oh! I don’t know….he’s obviously a very charming chap
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You are hilarious, Mike. Of course that’s a good one but we can not see your face. Clever of you to do that. I don’t like having my pic taken either. Therefore I’ve only got a very few. As one ages the problem only gets worse. No one wants to see a portrait of an older person althought if done right a good photpgrapher can make anybody “look decent.” 🙂
PS; I’ve not done a selfie and don’t think my phone would do a very good job. It’s a basic phone although it will take a pic. I’ve not used it for anything. 🙂
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Hi Yvonne. Got to keep an air of the mysterious about myself, some way. Seriously though I just hate being in front of the camera.
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I think that you, like many of us, prefer to be BEHIND the camera 🙂 Nice post Mike.
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Definitely behind for me, Tina. I hate being in front…I wonder why?
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I’m with you on all that! You’ve also reminded me of a photo my dad took of himself in the mirror, with a Kodak Brownie, about 60 years ago. I wonder where it is?
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I would do anything not to be in front.
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Love the back story of “selfies. (And your photo.)
janet
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Thank you Janet, glad you liked it
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A very strong selfie image Mike!
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Thanks Patti…nothing wrong will silhouettes and better than the boring real photograph
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The history was interesting. I very rarely do selfies and then only for a specific purpose. I absolutely do not like being photographed. Nothing wrong with a silhouette.
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I hate being in front of the camera….
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Very interesting to read about self-portraits. In my opinion there’s a difference between more traditional self-portraits and selfies. Selfies is typically when you hold the camera in one hand towards yourself, while self-portraits are the more classic ones where you use a tripod and timer or remote control.
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I couldn’t agree more. Either way I’ve never been comfortable in front of the camera.
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Very interesting post and I like your take on the selfie – it’s certainly a very strong image, quite witty and the background, or should that be foreground, is beautiful.
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Thank you for commenting and I’m glad you liked it…
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love this…loved learning all about selfies
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I’m glad you enjoyed it but it’s probably the last selfie you’ll see from me…
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