Awesome Mirror Selfies Taken by People Much Cooler Than You in The 19th and 20th Century

Henri Evenepoel, 1898

 

by Agape Charmani

In the long, frustrating list of “first world problems”, mirror selfies would probably take 2nd place -only because I’m pretty certain we can find something even worse to whine about in another article.

Having started somewhere around 2005 -if I remember correctly, mirror selfies were the ultimate social media trend -and by social media I mean MySpace and Hi5. This trend was forced upon us through a seminal evolution in mobile technology, as the new self-phones had a camera on their back. Ten years after and mirror selfies are still a thing, combined with the need to show your friends your latest phone in addition to your stylish outfit.

Who would have thought that our ancestors were not only geniuses when they invented photography, but they were also the same narcissists we are when it comes to taking a cool selfie. Below you can enjoy an interesting selection of self-portraits, taken by artists, photographers and royalty(!)

Nasseredin Shah (King of Iran) with his concubines, ca. 1800s

German fraternity mirror selfie, 1912

Harold Cazneau, 1910

Ilse Bing, age of 14, Frankfort, 1913

ca. 1880s

Luxembourgian-American photographer Edward Jean Steichen, 1917

Photographers in their Studio, 1890

Russian princess Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna, 1914

Nikolaevna with her sister, 1915

Unknown man, ca. 1900s

Unknown woman, ca. 1900s

Soldier Thomas Charles Richmond Baker, 1917

Swiss photographer Frédéric Boissonnas, 1900

Trooper George Simpson Millar, Egypt, 1915

Unknown woman, Tallahassee, Florida, ca. 1900s

Unknown man with his wife, 1905

Unknown woman, ca. 1900s

Early Edwardian woman, 1900 with a Kodak Brownie box camera