We explain to you what a selfie, what types exist and what is the use of selfie stick. In addition, the history of the selfie and which are the most famous.
Which is a selfie?
the selfie or selfie (of English selfie either selfie) is a Photography self-portrait, that is, taken by the same person that appears in it. The term generally refers to photographs of this type taken with cameras digital or cameras integrated into the cell phone, and it is a massively adopted practice in times of social networks, although its invention, strictly speaking, dates from the beginning of photography.
The word selfie it's a Anglicism, that is, a loan from English that replaces “self-portrait” or, rather, “selfie”. It emerged and became widespread at the beginning of the 21st century, thanks to the incorporation of cameras in cell phones. The first recorded use of this word in Internet dates back to 2002, in a forum called ABCOnline; and already in 2013 the prestigious Oxford English language dictionaries chose the term as the "English word of the year".
Like all anglicisms, selfie It is written in italics in Spanish, and can be used both in the singular and in the plural (selfie), or use the Castilianization selfie Y selfies.
history of the selfie
The photographic self-portrait is almost as old as photography itself. In fact, at the time of the daguerreotype in the 19th century, the American Robert Cornelius (1809-1893) took a self-portrait in 1839, on the back of which he wrote: “The first light photograph ever taken. 1839”.
However, it was not until the invention of the portable Kodak Brownie box camera in 1900 that photographic self-portraits became popular, usually using a mirror or some reflective surface, as in the case of the portrait of (then) teenager Anastasia Nikolayevna Romanova. (1901-1918), Grand Duchess of Russia executed during the Bolshevik Revolution.
The first group self-portrait came soon after, in 1920, and was taken in New York by the American photographer Joseph Byron (1847-1923), together with four of his colleagues. In this last case, the deformation of the lens on the image, taken holding the camera between two, is notorious, since it was quite heavy.
With or without a mirror, the photographic self-portrait continued to become popular throughout the 20th century, long before the internet, social media, and the word "selfie." In this sense, the work of the Venezuelan photographer Vasco Szinetar (1948-), renowned portraitist and author of an extensive collection of self-portraits with artists and writers in front of the mirror, developed over several decades, also stands out.
Finally, the arrival of the internet and cell phone cameras allowed the massification of selfie and its separation from the professional photographic field. With the advent of social networks in the 2000s, everyone wanted to take selfies and share them with their contacts, emulating the gesture of celebrities from film and television such as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, whose selfie of 2006 was often and erroneously heralded as the first of its kind in history.
first selfie
Some of the first selfies in history are the following:
- selfie by Robert Cornelius
- selfie by Anastasia Romanov
- The first selfie group
- selfie by Joseph Byron (circa 1920)
- selfie by Frank Sinatra
- selfie George Harrison in front of the Taj Mahal
- selfie by Vasco Szinetar with Jorge Luis Borges (around 1980)
- selfie by Paris Hilton and Britney Spears
Types selfie
In some places a classification of the selfie based on its style and content. These types of selfie are:
- selfie. It is the ordinary self-portrait, either in front of the mirror or with the camera turned towards us. It has become much easier to take since cell phones have a front camera (or rear view camera). selfie).
- usie. Its name comes from the English pronoun us ("we"), and is the selfie group.
- OOTD. It is a type of selfie that is usually full body in which the emphasis is on the clothes that are being worn. Their acronym belong to Outfit Of The Day ("dress of the day"). It is typical of social networks and influencers What do they do advertising to different clothing brands.
- helfie. Its name comes from the combination of selfie with the english word hair (“hair”), so it is a selfie in which the hairstyle or hair is given prominence.
- morningselfie. Its name in English translates "selfie morning” and consists of taking a self-portrait while still in bed and without getting ready.
The selfie stick
It is known as selfie stick to a type of accessory for cell phones that consists of an extendable stick, at the end of which the cell phone is connected and that allows to overcome the maximum distance of the extended arm to take a selfie. This makes it easier to frame the photo and allows you to capture more of the surrounding landscape, making it a very popular accessory among social media and self-portrait addicts.