No single person “created” the selfie, but a few key moments and people stand out in its history.

Quick Scoop: So…who created the selfie?

  • The first known photographic self‑portrait (often called the first “selfie”) is usually credited to American photographer Robert Cornelius in 1839, who took a daguerreotype of himself in Philadelphia.
  • The modern word “selfie” appears much later: the earliest recorded use is from an Australian online forum in 2002, when a user named Nathan Hope apologized for the “focus” of a photo of his injured lip, calling it a “selfie”.
  • Over time, many celebrities and public figures have helped make selfies mainstream, but claims like Paris Hilton’s “Me & Britney invented the selfie!” are more playful than historically accurate; people were taking self‑portraits long before the 2000s.

Mini-timeline of the selfie idea

  1. 1839 – Robert Cornelius, the trailblazer
    Cornelius sets up his camera outside his lamp shop in Philadelphia, removes the lens cap, runs into the frame, and creates one of the earliest photos of a person—widely described today as the first selfie.
  1. Early 1900s – Early casual “selfies”
    Portable cameras like the Kodak Brownie let people experiment with self‑portraits using mirrors and tripods; by 1920, photographer Joseph Byron and friends are taking group “arm‑extended” photos that look very much like modern selfies.
  1. Mid–20th century – Celebrities join in
    Frank Sinatra took a mirror self‑portrait in the 1930s, and by the 1960s figures like Beatles guitarist George Harrison were capturing fisheye travel self‑portraits that feel strikingly modern.
  1. 1990s – Digital and “photo booth” culture
    In Japan, purikura sticker booths—where friends take cute, decorated photos of themselves—become a precursor to digital selfie culture, especially among teenagers.
  1. 2002 – The word “selfie” appears
    An Australian forum post describes a blurry self‑photo after a drunken accident with the line “sorry about the focus, it was a selfie,” which is widely cited as the first written use of the term.
  1. 2000s–2010s – The smartphone boom
    Camera phones, front‑facing cameras, and social media turn selfies into an everyday habit, with celebrities, influencers, and regular users all helping popularize the trend.

Different ways people answer “who created the selfie?”

  • History nerd answer: Robert Cornelius, for taking that 1839 self‑portrait with a very slow, early camera.
  • Language answer: The anonymous Australian forum user (Nathan Hope) who first wrote the word “selfie” online in 2002.
  • Culture answer: “All of us” – as one BuzzFeed piece jokes, the selfie is a social phenomenon created collectively as technology and habits evolved.

So if you need a name for a quick fact:

  • First selfie‑style photo: Robert Cornelius, 1839.
  • First known use of the word “selfie”: an Australian forum user in 2002.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.