The invention of the selfie is widely attributed to Robert Cornelius, an American photography pioneer who took a self-portrait in 1839 using an early camera, making it the earliest known photographic selfie.

Robert Cornelius and the First Selfie

• In 1839, Cornelius produced a daguerreotype photograph of himself outside his family’s lamp shop in Philadelphia.

• The process involved removing the camera lens cap, running into the frame, and remaining motionless for 10-15 minutes while the exposure completed.

• Cornelius later wrote on the back of the plate: "The first light picture ever taken. 1839".

Later Developments

• The portable Kodak Brownie box camera (1900) and the development of mirror selfies expanded the practice, but Cornelius’s image remains recognized as the first photographically recorded selfie.

• Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia is often cited as one of the first teenagers to take her own mirror selfie, doing so in 1914.

The Modern “Selfie”

• While self-portraits have existed in paintings for centuries, the modern use of the term “selfie” first appeared online in Australia in 2002.

• The concept is now associated with digital photography but its roots clearly trace back to early photographic technology and pioneers like Cornelius.

In summary, Robert Cornelius is considered the inventor of the photographic selfie, with his famous 1839 image marking the beginning of the phenomenon.