Selfie

Let’s Take a Selfie

by Meg Giles Kirby A. Tupaz

“A selfie is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.” This is the definition given by Oxford Dictionary when asked for the meaning of the word ‘selfie.’ Seems unbelievable right? Well, not anymore. The word selfie is now officially a part of the English language, and to the surprise of everybody, it was the word of the year by the Oxford Dictionaries by 2013.

Although the rampant proliferation of the technique is quite recent, the selfie itself is far from being a strictly modern phenomenon. Indeed, the photographic self-portrait is surprisingly common in the very early days of photography exploration and invention, when it was often more convenient for the experimenting photographers to act as model as well. In fact, the picture considered as by many as the first photographic portrait ever taken was a ‘selfie.’ Now, who could have taken that picture and considering the sizes of cameras back then, how can he carry the big camera and bring it in front of him and take a selfie?

Ladies and gentlemen, the first ever selfie was taken in 1839, way before smartphones or cellular phones with front cameras were invented. It was taken by an amateur chemist and photography enthusiast from Philadelphia named Robert Cornelius. He had set his camera at the back of the family store in Philadelphia. He took the image by lens cap and running into frame where he sat for a minute before covering up the lens again. On the back of the portrait, he wrote “The first light picture ever taken. 1839.”

Of all the countries of the world, the Philippines is considered as the “Selfie Country” and Makati City is considered as the “Selfie Capital of the World.” According to a survey conducted by Time Magazine, Makati City and Pasig topped with 258 selfie takers per 100,000 people. Manhattan and Miami came 2nd and 3rd with 202 and 155 selfie takers while Cebu...