The Story Behind History's 'First Selfie'

Sorry Paris Hilton and Britney Spears — it turns out, you didn't "invent" the selfie. 

With a sultry gaze and disheveled hair, the self-portrait of 19th-century Philadelphian photographer Robert Cornelius is said to be the world's first "selfie" (though, of course, at that time, the term had yet to be coined).

Nearly two centuries later, the photo of Cornelius is circulating on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Reddit, alongside claims that the picture is indeed the first-ever "selfie." In some cases, social media users are sharing a side-by-side comparison of Cornelius' original portrait and modernized iterations, like what's below.

The image on the left is genuine and was captured in 1839, per historical records. Furthermore, the photograph is considered the "earliest extant photographic portrait in the world," according to the Library of Congress, which acquired the photo in 1996.

The portrait was made possible due to an invention months earlier by the photographer Louis J.M. Daguerre. He announced a new photographic method, the daguerreotype photograph, to the French Academy of Sciences in August 1839, marking the world's first commercially successful photographic process.

Scientist Paul Beck Goddard, who partnered with Cornelius on photography projects, improved upon Daguerre's formula for treating camera plates by combining bromine and iodine. Daguerre's original process used only iodine. This change decreased a photograph's exposure time from as much as 25 minutes to between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. That shorter time made it easier to sit and pose for a self-portrait.

Cornelius took his head-and-shoulders self-portrait using a box fitted with a lens from an opera glass. 

The exact date of the photo is unknown. Historical records say he took the photo in October or November 1839, a few months after Daguerre's groundbreaking announcement. 

"Daguerreotypes are amongst the earliest photographic records and the Library holds over 800 of these images, including the iconic daguerreotype self-portrait of Robert Cornelius made in October or November of 1839," the Library of Congress wrote.

Inscribed on the back of the photo is the phrase: "The first light picture ever taken. 1839."

The archives add:

In the portrait, Cornelius stands slightly off-center with hair askew, in the yard behind his family's lamp and chandelier store, peering uncertainly into the camera. Early daguerreotypy required a long exposure time, ranging from three to fifteen minutes, making the process nearly impractical for portraiture.

The Public Domain Review, an online journal and nonprofit project to highlight work that's entered the public domain, also considers Cornelius' portrait to be "the first ever 'selfie.'" It says:

In fact, the picture considered by many to be the first photographic portrait ever taken was a "selfie". The image in question was taken in 1839 by an amateur chemist and photography enthusiast from Philadelphia named Robert Cornelius. Setting up his camera at the back of the family store in Philadelphia, Cornelius took the image by removing the lens cap and then running into frame where he sat for a minute before covering up the lens again. On the back of the image he wrote "The first light Picture ever taken. 1839."

Cornelius, who lived from 1809 to 1893, only photographed subjects for three years.

A 2022 lecture about preserving his legacy by Rachel Wetzel, a senior photograph conservator at the Library of Congress, is available online.