The "Selfie" is Older than You Think

Although this term may not seem art related, it is. Long before the term “selfie” was even a thought, artists were creating their own. You know these as self-portraits. Granted, when we think of a selfie today, we think of a photograph instead of a painting or drawing. With that said, if you thought the first people to take the photographic selfie were in this century (or last century), you’re very wrong.

Without getting too involved with the history of the camera and photography, here are a few things you may not have known about them. 

• The first invention of a camera small enough to be user-friendly was in 1685; before that, they were the size of a room. The hand-held versions weren’t around until the 1870’s.
• People were not able to develop permanent photographs until 1826 (the earliest known photo still exists, see below). 
• A Kodak box camera was first for sale in the late 1880’s, and in 1900 a small box camera called the Brownie was introduced and stuck around until the 1960’s. This camera is where the snapshot originated.

The earliest known photo from 1826:

View from the Window at Le Gras by Joseph Nicéphore, 1826

To completely blow your mind, here are some pretty cool photos of the earliest known selfies, the first of which was 175 years ago.

Chemist Robert Cornelius, 1839

Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, 1914.
She is using the Kodak Brownie here.

Gunner Thomas Charles Richmond Baker, 1917