How did the selfie and selfie stick come about?

More recently, photos of girls in a mirror posted on social networks caused a grin. Taking pictures of yourself seemed like the height of narcissism and stupidity.

But since about 2013, such pictures have gained widespread popularity and they have been looked upon as a social phenomenon. At the present time it is hard to name the person who came to mind to take selfies, but we will try.

To determine who was the author of the first selfie, you need to look into the history of photography.

The study of photographs suggests that the inventor of the selfie was a photographer from America, Robert Cornelius.

The picture is very old, it is almost 200 years old, and of course, time has left its mark on it. In spite of everything, this work is the first own photograph in history.

First self shot
For the first time, a group of photographers performed a joint photograph of themselves in the winter of 1920, which worked for the Byron Company in New York.

Interestingly, the picture was taken on the roof of the photo studio. The company forgot to take a tripod and they had to hold a rather impressive camera with outstretched arms. So simple childishness entered the history of photography as the world’s first self-shot.

Of course, the term “selfie” was not coined at the time. This word was first mentioned on the Internet relatively recently and firmly entered our lives, as well as a type of photography.

With respect to these images, the term “self-portrait” does not seem appropriate, and there is no other suitable definition. Therefore, in our speech a new word appeared, borrowed from the English language.

Appearance selfie stick
Mirror is often used to get selfie shots. But what if he is not around?

You can use side or front cameras in the phones, but they do not always provide good quality photos.

In addition, the arm’s length is sometimes not enough to capture everything you need.

Some time ago a new convenient invention appeared on the market – a stick for selfie. It is not particularly complex design: it resembles a telescopic baton or a fishing pole – it is a sliding device, at the end of which there is a lock.

Insert the device at the fixation point and push the stick to the desired length, then select the desired angle and take a picture.

Usually, a selfie stick is used to obtain group photographs, but special craftsmen are able to catch completely unexpected angles using this invention. It is this suddenness and the opportunity to catch the moment that distinguishes self from other types of photography.

Interestingly, this device was officially patented in America about 30 years ago. Its authors are Japanese designers.

However, this invention did not arouse much interest from the public, since interest in selfie woke up much later. At first, self-stick interested only professional photographers and amateur photographers.

Now this is a pretty popular fixture. The Times magazine announced that a selfie stick was invented in 2014. But in this case the use of the old device for new purposes takes place.