With the advent of mobile phones, personal devices, selfie sticks etc, taking photographs has never been easier! There is no need to bring a camera or remember to buy film *gasp*!
Our mobile phone is almost always with us. With improvements in technology, taking a selfie is now as simple as pressing a virtual button!
So, what exactly is a selfie?
It is defined by the Oxford Dictonary as "a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website"
Ever wondered who had taken the first selfie? I think the answer may surprise you!
The first selfie was taken way back in 1839! That is a good 170 years ago! Were there already mbile phones back then? No! However, that was the time photography was being heavily explored. For ease of experiment, early photographers often use themselves as "models' to test their photography skills.
So, who is selfie inventor? He is Robert Cornelius, an amateur chemist and photography enthusiast from Philadelphia. How did he take this selfie? He had set up his camera up at the back of the family store. He removed the lens cap and then ran into frame where he sat down for a minute before covering up the lens again. On the back of this selfie, he wrote “The first light Picture ever taken. 1839.”
Though this picture technically does not fit into the definition by Oxford Dictionary, it is considered by many to be the first photographic portrait ever taken!
(All images - credit: Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence)
