Selfies are photos you snap of yourself with a mobile device, and are a narcissist’s delight. These photos are an easy and interactive way to share the images that you take of yourself during the day, as popularized by the ever-growing Instagram. If you own a smartphone with camera capabilities, then you are most definitely guilty of taking selfies. Just flip the camera, angle the lens to the proper spot, strike a duck face pout, and you’re all set to capture your image and share it for the whole world to see and critique. Throw the photo through a filter to make it look artsy, and you can be your own personal paparazzo. It’s crazy to process that “selfie” was just added to the dictionary in August with its definition being “self-portrait!”
A couple months ago, The New York Times blogged about Instagram, where Jenna Wortham stated, “it isn't about reality — it's about a well-crafted fantasy, a highlights reel of your life that shows off versions of yourself that you want to remember and put on display in a glass case for other people to admire and browse through. It's why most of the photographs uploaded to Instagram are beautiful and entertaining slices of life and not the tedious time in-between of those moments, when bills get paid, cranky children are put to bed, little spats with friends.”
People pick their life’s highlights to put on public display for their Instagram followers, only showcasing a small percentage of their life. There is also a psychological element to the science of selfies. Instagram selfie-snappers experience a shock of panic if their photo doesn’t receive ample likes or comments. Selfies are the fastest way to receive a self-boost when the image is well-received on social media. An easy way to alter one's ego, the more likes the better.
Before the smartphone camera era, selfies were difficult to take. People tried taking photos of themselves in front of mirrors to attain the self-portrait effect with a photograph. It is possible that the first documented selfie was taken by photographer Robert Cornelius in 1839.
The second selfie was captured in the early 1900s with a Kodak Brownie box camera. The Edwardian woman took the photo by pointing the camera towards the mirror and snapping.
Image via Wikipedia
In 1914, the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolevna of Russia struck a pose, positioning herself and the camera in front of the mirror to capture the image. In her diary, she noted that she sent it to friends to share the selfie: “I took this picture of myself looking at the mirror. It was very hard as my hands were trembling.” I wonder how many of her friends provided feedback by complementing her photo or sending “comments” via snail mail to boost her ego.
Image via Wikipedia
Story via Buzzfeed, Business Insider
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