selfie noun
self·ie | \ ‘sel-fē \
Definition of selfie: an image that includes oneself (often with another person or as part of a group) and is taken using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks.
You’d think selfies – as much a fixture of modern life as UFO sightings – are a recent phenomenon stemming from the use of cell phones. Even Merriam-Webster define them above as “digital.” Well, not so much. The first self-portrait was taken by a man named Robert Cornelius in 1839 and it ranks among the earliest photographs in the world.
The photographic plate was invented by Frenchman Louis Daguerre in the same year. His method used a silver-coated copper plate and fumes of mercury. It took Cornelius, an American silversmith in Philadelphia, just a short time to understand and duplicate Daguerre’s technique.
But while your selfie takes a fraction of a second to create, Cornelius had to sit still for as long as 15 minutes. Quite a feat all by itself. His off-kilter image shows a striking young man with crossed arms and hair much in need of a brush; so, pretty much like the selfies we often see today.
Cornelius’s interest in photography was sparked by a person name John Saxton who, also in 1839, enlisted the silversmith’s help to take a picture of Philadelphia’s Central High School. Cornelius fabricated the silver plate and the resulting image – as dim as it may be – is the first photo known to have been made in America.
The new technology soon spread. By 1843, a photographer named Stringfellow was offering “Daguerreotypes” in his Raleigh studio. In 1846, members of the North Carolina General Assembly were being solicited for photographic portraits by a gentleman advertising as Mr. Doratt.
In the late 1840s, you could have your tintype portrait made in Wilmington. During the 1850s, North Carolina photographers offered their services in Fayetteville, Wadesboro, Greensboro, Charlotte and Winston-Salem.
Finally, in 1859, J. W. Watson advertised his “gallery” on New Bern’s Craven Street in the Daily Progress newspaper. Watson boasted that business “for likenesses” was so steady that he’d enlisted the services of two cameramen to handle all the traffic. Fifty cents “and upwards” would cover the cost of a picture.
Soon photography was adopted all over the world and a steady series of photographers has staffed New Bern studios ever since. Considering the dates of these events, it’s clear to see why such important photos were made during the Civil War. Photography came into its own just in time the capture the historic and horrific events of that unfolded 1861-1865.
One New Bern photographer who later gained national recognition was Mary Bayard Morgan Wootten (1875-1959). Bayard, as she was called (it’s pronounced BY-ard), had a long resume of accomplishments including early aerial photography and being a leading portraitist and landscape specialist. She was the first woman to serve in the N.C. National Guard. And she’s credited as having been the person who named Pepsi-Cola in 1898. She also designed the famous Pepsi logo for her neighbor, Caleb Bradham, who invented the carbonated beverage he first called “Brad’s Drink” in New Bern in 1893.
So, is Bayard Wootten’s stylized likeness, shown here amplified with modern retouching software, a selfie? Maybe.
by Edward Ellis, Special Correspondent
Eddie Ellis is the author of New Bern History 101 and other works about Craven County’s rich heritage. He can be reached at flexspace2@aol.com.
More at edwardellis.com