Selfie’s the latest culture craze that’s got everyone snapping away at every available opportunity may seem like it came out of the blue but, hold on to your beanies hipsters, its actually been around for more than a hundred years.
Selfies or self-portraits have been around since the mid 19th century when camera’s become more affordable for the mass population.One of the first selfies known to us was taken in 1839 by Robert Cornelius the genius behind daguerreotype, the first popular photographic process.
Forty odd years later Kodak was the first to mass-produce an affordable camera that allowed photos to be printed onto 35mm film.
By the 1900s the trend had really taken off and it become commonplace to document daily life.
The Russian Romanov royal family epitomized this. The Tsar and his family were keen photographers and kept many scrapbooks and film reels of their day-to-day lives. This rare and insightful material is what allowed historians, and the public, a glimpse into their lives outside of royal duty as well the days spent in exile just before they were murdered.
Take a look this self-portrait by the Russian Princess Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov. One of the earliest selfies shot by a teenager, talk about foreshadowing.
This picture also highlights another trend that came about because of photography becoming widely available. It allowed women to express themselves in a way that had never been done before.
Paintings and self portraits were always of men, save for royalty. They were seen as a status symbol, a way to show off. A century ago you had to pay someone to paint a portrait of you and so only the wealthy , and male, could afford to have it done.
Unlike in the 21st century self-portraits were not taken as a way to show off but rather just came out because of curiosity.
Most of the time people would be experimenting with their new cameras and would have to wait till the film could be developed to see the end result
Can you imagine a 14-year-old teen being told they had to wait to see their perfectly timed and perfectly lighted selfie? We predict aneurisms all round.
For artists photography become a whole new medium with which to express themselves. Australian Harold Cazneau was one of the first artists down under to use photography as artistic expression. He argued that photography was just as valuable when trying to portray something about the subject as other mediums were.
Belgian painter Henri Evenepoel was another artist who agreed with Harold. As displayed by the magnificent self portrait below taken in 1898
Selfies are an essential part of life now; whether you’re a builder or a banker everyone has done it. You only have to log into Instagram or Twitter to see the stream of self love selfies.
And like the self-portraits of time past they will be useful into providing an insight into 21st century life, so stay snap happy folks.
Pictures by: http://www.getty.edu/ and http://commons.wikimedia.org/
