From arm’s length to art: The evolution of selfies

Whether you’d like to admit it out loud or not, you know you’ve been there. That’s right, we’re talking about that lazy, bathroom mirror snap you sent your best friends on a night out, or that meticulously crafted ‘fit check’ post on your Instagram, which took about 37 tries. No surprise that the ‘selfie’ (as the internet calls it), is ubiquitous today.

But that wasn’t always the case. In fact, most of us remember selfies emerge from their awkward, grainy, MySpace-era roots, even if today, they have morphed into a sophisticated, socially accepted art form (at least on some days!).

As we globally celebrate World Selfie Day, it only seems fitting to take a trip down memory lane and discover everything from the infamous ‘duck face’ to selfies, as they are known today.

Early selfies: 1800s to 1900s

There’s a lot of debate as to who owns the title of the ‘first recorded selfie’. Self-portraiture was considered common back in the day, but it was Robert Cornelius, an American photographer, who ended up making it to the Guinness Book of World Records for clicking the ‘first selfie’ in 1839.

Cornelius resorted to using the daguerreotype technique to capture a photo of himself after he didn’t want to wait for someone else to do the needful. But unlike today, the daguerreotype camera required him to sit perfectly still for 10 to 15 minutes in order to execute the shot correctly.

In 1865, French photographer Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, also known as Nadar, took things a step further by using a swivel chair to capture multiple self-portraits in sequence. The photographs consisted of 12 frames, and in each of them, Nadar turned a little more than usual for the camera to capture him from different angles.

If that’s not all, stitching them together also creates an early animation of sorts… or as some would like to call it a ‘selfie GIF’. Talk about being ahead of time!

The dawn of disposable cameras: 1900s to 2000s

The period between the 1900s and 2000s saw a fascinating shift in the trajectory of selfies. For one, the early 1900s introduced the Kodak Brownie camera to the masses and made hobby photography far more accessible.

While the camera wasn’t specifically designed for selfies, it was easier to prop it up on tripods and most found it easier to frame themselves better using a mirror.

Joseph Byron, in 1909, clicked another historic ‘selfie’, which involved him standing on the rooftop of his company Marceau Studio. Similarly, in 1914, Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia, too, clicked a self-portrait using the Kodak Brownie camera. The Duchess, who was only 13 years old when she clicked the photo, used a chair to stabilise the camera in her room.

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Not much later in 1934, a Swedish couple accidentally invented one of the earliest versions of the selfie stick. The couple decided to take a picture of themselves at a scenic location using a wooden stick, simply by propping their camera up at the end of it!

Disposable cameras began to gain popularity in the 1980s, making self-portraits even more common. It then became easier for people to click photos of themselves using a mirror – imagine taking a selfie only to be able to see it the next time your film develops!

By the time it was the 1990s, self-portraits began turning into a more casual, goofy form of photography. Group photos at events and parties using disposable or Polaroid cameras became common. Cameras also began adding a self-timer feature which allowed a more casual and playful approach to self-portraits.

The 'MySpace' era and advent of social media: Early 2000s to present

With the birth of social media, selfies found their rightful place in the world — the internet; but, of course, not before being cancelled.

Young adults started using self-portraits as a way to express themselves online, and this was also where the first instances of “duckface” were observed among other early attempts at digital self-expression. Before front-facing phone cameras truly came into existence, selfies were clicked using a digital camera.

It wasn’t long after that Motorola unveiled its A920 smartphone with a front camera, which according to many, is considered the ‘first’ smartphone with a selfie cam. But the smartphone maker neither confirmed nor denied the use of the front camera back in the day.

In fact, the term ‘selfie’ was also coined in this era, when an Australian named Nathan Hope posted a photo of himself with a caption of his injured lip.

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After this, celebrities, public figures and even the Pope, hopped onto the bandwagon to create some of the most iconic selfies clicked today. Some of the names that spearheaded this revolution included Paris Hilton, who was known to document her life and show off her outfits. A few others would be Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Miley Cyrus and, of course, Kim Kardashian who never missed an opportunity to pout.

Despite this, selfies weren’t entirely considered a norm. The rise of Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram in the 2010s, however, marked the turning point for self-portraits.

For one, Apple brought forth the iPhone 4 in June 2010, which was marked the first smartphone with a front-facing camera ‘specifically’ designed for selfies. This made taking self-portraits easier and more convenient than ever before.

In 2014, the world saw what is now described as the ‘Ellen selfie’, which was a photo taken at the 86th Academy Awards by Ellen DeGeneres. It began with her making a joke about the high ratings of award shows with selfies, where she ended up pulling out her phone and snapping a photo with several A-list celebrities gathered around her.

It brought together several well-known faces, including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep, Lupita Nyong’o, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence and Benedict Cumberbatch, and ended up breaking Twitter for being the most retweeted image of all time.

It was also safe to say that the ‘Ellen Selfie’ was a pivotal moment in selfie history, and it ended up solidifying the selfie’s place in pop culture.

Over the last few years, social media has seen a shift, but the selfie has remained constant, be it TikTok or Instagram. From first the filter trend to now the #nofilter look, self-photos today can be carefully crafted for a specific aesthetic. Several smartphone makers have come up with devices sporting high-resolution cameras, allowing for sharper, more detailed selfies.

And if that’s not all, a lot of supporting equipment, including selfie sticks and ring lights have become commonplace, helping people achieve the perfect angle and lighting for their self-portraits.

With a lot of influencers and public figures taking their ‘selfie game’ up a notch, the art today has become a double-edged sword. While some believe they are a tool of self-expression, others also debate if they are setting an unrealistic beauty standard that most end up striving to live up to.

The selfie has come full circle from millennials capturing grainy arms-length attempts to Gen-Zs normalising hazy, badly taken photographs again. That said, one thing’s for sure, the next time you reach for your phone to snap, remember – you’re not just taking a selfie, you’re probably contributing to a fascinating chapter in the history of self-portraits!

On this note, you might want to go ahead and take that selfie — but let’s leave out embarrassing ones for no one to find!