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Simon Round

BySimon Round, Simon Round

Opinion

How the JC invented the selfie (well sort of)

December 11, 2014 14:13
The most famous 'selfie' of all, taken at this year's Oscars
3 min read

There are many reasons why you might be reading the JC today. But the chances are at some point you will be having a sneaky look through the paper to see if there are any pictures of friends, family and acquaintances - and, who knows, maybe even you.

Long before camera-phones brought us the cult of the selfie, the latter-day photographic version of the self-portrait was being pioneered within the pages of the JC. People would go to great lengths to get their photos in the paper and when they did so, the kvell factor among their friends and family would register on the Richter scale.

Could this rather endearing need to be seen by your fellow JC readers have been the genesis of the selfie?

Photographer David Rubin has snapped hundreds of events for publication in the JC, and he thinks this might be the case. "We did invent the selfie – it was called the Guest List. At the time it first appeared in the paper everyone suddenly wanted to be in it. I see it as the Jewish version of Hello! or OK! magazines. They want to be where it matters. The movers and shakers of this world do enjoy a bit of limelight and kudos and they like being associated with the even greater and better."