National Post (National Edition)
The narcissist filter
We can’t all be a Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Marie Curie or even the guy who invented the ShamWow (and/or Slap Chop). But that doesn’t mean we can’t aspire to be something greater than who we are – or, when all else fails, simply take ownership of those things waiting to be claimed.
The selfie, a.k.a. the digital self-portrait, is a word that’s been in fashion for the decade since the ubiquity of the smartphone, but as a practice it’s been around since photographic film was pioneered by George Eastman. The recent pervasiveness of the selfie, however, makes its origins something to which practically anyone could lay claim if they wanted.
So, naturally, Paris Hilton found the way paved for her to take credit this week when she tweeted, alongside an old shot of herself and former friend Britney Spears, “11 years ago today, Me & Britney invented the selfie!”
The shameless declaration led to an outcry on social media, with many disputing Hilton’s brazen disregard for history. After all, she and Spears are, roughly, 167 years off the mark.
While the foundation of the selfie isn’t something we can pin down in an encyclopedia or a museum somewhere, the first believed example of one was taken in 1839 by American photographer Robert Cornelius, who wrote on the back of his photo, complete with a nosmile smize, “The first light Picture ever taken. 1839.”
By the early 1900s, the go-to process was by mirror, while placing a newly invented Kodak box camera on an elevated surface nearby. The earliest example of this, which would’ve killed on Instagram today, was taken by a 13-yearold Anastasia Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess of Russia.
Selfies as a movement, however, didn’t proliferate until the 1970s and the instant camera, resurfacing with a vengeance a decade ago when phones were developed with front-facing cameras and, shortly thereafter, with the rising popularity of social media and Instagram – a haven for selfies.
But that’s not a trend that was born out of thin air. Taking selfies and sharing them online was a style that grew, largely, from pop culture. We saw Thelma and Louise do it in 1991, George Harrison snap several in 1966 in India and Kim Kardashian (Hilton’s former closet organizer) lay claim to it in a tome of her selfies, titled Selfish, in 2015.
So, while Hilton might be seeking credit, it’s really all of us who should be honoured for the invention of the selfie. You’re welcome.