Paris Hilton is responsible for a lot of things. The phrase “that’s hot“. The popularity in the mid-2000s of the pink low-rise pleated skirt. The Simple Life. Flip-phones.
What she may not be responsible for, however, is the invention of the selfie. This is a claim – a big claim – that she appears to have made on Twitter today, via the following tweet:
11 years ago today, Me & Britney invented the selfie! pic.twitter.com/1byOU5Gp8J
— ParisHilton (@ParisHilton) November 19, 2017
These are possibly the most 2006 photos I’ve ever seen, and they fill me with a joy that’s difficult to describe.
Not so the rest of the internet, it appears, who seem incensed by Hilton’s impossible claims, and swiftly set out to prove her wrong – which is totally fine by me, actually, because it’s resulted in a compilation of historical selfies that’s totally fascinating.
The stack of early selfie evidence includes Thelma & Louise, Madonna, Bill Nye, several members of The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, and a bunch of Ye Olde Timey dudes whose names have been forgotten but whose dope selfies will forever live on.
https://twitter.com/mixer1av/status/932326776700780544
https://twitter.com/WalterAsensio/status/932329625405059077
https://twitter.com/Aanth/status/932339732117323776
oh realy because heres kramer inventing the selfie in 1995 pic.twitter.com/dtmR0Kh3lP
— Seinfeld Current Day (@Seinfeld2000) November 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/freshtwofresh/status/932376353311248387
IM SORRY BUT pic.twitter.com/Rvd7JEa0g0
— nart dog (@space_orphan) November 19, 2017
@GeorgeHarrison 1966 51years ago pic.twitter.com/O2by99nOE0
— Robyn Vaux (@RV_27) November 19, 2017
Okay. pic.twitter.com/i8OpltsJpZ
— Allie Goertz (@AllieGoertz) November 19, 2017
https://twitter.com/JacobKai13/status/932417523496075269
https://twitter.com/Cousin_Johnny/status/932352376022986754
https://twitter.com/stellgibsons/status/932386153071824898
Uh, here’s Colin-Powell 60 years ago… pic.twitter.com/bsg19CEcqB
— Millarworld (@mrmarkmillar) November 19, 2017
And here comes National Galleries with the slam dunk:
This is the first ever photograph selfie in history, taken by Robert Cornelius in 1839. It’s now in the collection of @librarycongress. 📷 pic.twitter.com/OJVQz7Rnrk
— National Galleries of Scotland (@NatGalleriesSco) September 30, 2017
(HELLO ROBERT CORNELIUS am I right!!!! fkn Mr Darcy looking motherfucker over here)
So there you have it: myth busted. But could it possibly be that Hilton, who is rumoured to be a vintage radio enthusiast and is a confirmed slyly hilarious business genius, is taking the piss with her breezy claim to be the brain behind the defining cultural image of our generation?
Considering the little trip through the history of the camera and photographic documentation of the self that her stunt has prompted, I don’t really care. This was a super fun collectively-sourced retrospective, and I love that hotel heiress even more for kicking it off.
Hail Paris Hilton: inventor of the selfie.
