Robert Cornelius shoots the very first Selfie.
Robert Cornelius - 1893. On March 1, 1809 American photographic pioneer and business man Robert Cornelius was born. He is credited of making the very first selfie in th U.S With his own knowledge of chemistry and metallurgy Cornelius attempted to perfect the daguerreotype. As we all know, 'selfies' have become really popular in the past years. There is even this project called selfiecity, "investigating the style of selfies in five cities across the world" with some pretty detailed infos and statistics. The term 'has probably been introduced in 2002 but the first ever self-portrait has been taken in 1838 or 1839 (the sources differ) by Robert Cornelius. Robert Cornelius was sent to a private school as a boy and it is believed that his interest in chemistry evolved in that period. He started working for his father in 1831 he was a manufacturer of lamps and chandeliers. Cornelius specialized in silver plating and metal polishing. He was approached by Joseph Saxton for the silver plate required for his daguerreotype Robert Cornelius then also took his interest in the procedure. . First known EVA selfie taken by Buzz Aldrin in 1966. Today, taking selfies is easy, especially with the (in my mind) ridiculous 'selfie sticks' which now appear en masse in tourist areas across the world. Robert Cornelius however, had to stand still for about five minutes when he took his picture. He soon opened one of the first photographic studios ever, specializing in portraits Unfortunately, only a few of his images survived, because Cornelius soon returned to his father's successful business. . Also, Cornelius did not really make much of his achievements in the field of 'In 1893 shortly before his death, he told a friend of some portraits he took. Julius Sachse, back then a noted Philadelphia photographer himself, and future editor the American Journal of Photography, showed interest in Cornelius' work. However, no evidence of these images had been found until 1975 when a librarian at the American Philosophical Society found a photograph taken by Cornelius It is believed that some 30 daguerreotypes by Cornelius survived. Most of them picture Philadelphia notables, but there are also some of Robert Cornelius himself and Martin Hans Boye from 1843 showing them performing chemical experiments. . Several years later, in 1914 the first known selfie taken by a teenager appeared. It was probably sent to a friend by the Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna at the age of 13. Now, selfies are so popular, that the term was even announced as the "word of the year" by the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013. At yovisto you can learn more about the history of photography in the presentation of Nancy Crandall about the origins and beginnings of photography.