The term "selfie" is part of our everyday vernacular.
But according to Karl Baden, Boston College Associate Professor of Art and Film, the concept of self-portraits goes back a long, long time in history, possibly since photography began in 1849. He says photography deals with space and time and that taking a picture captures a sliver of time.
Baden knows a little something about self-portraits. He has taken a photograph of himself every day for the last thirty years. He's compiled more than 11,000 photographs. He began the project the day after Pop-Art Icon Andy Warhol died on February 23, 1987. Baden was a fan of Warhol's and says he was inspired by some of his work.
"I had the idea in 1975 originally I made the mistake of telling a friend who told me that they didn't think it was a great idea," Baden said. "And I didn't do it. But for the next 12 or 13 years it just rattled around and my brain wouldn't go away. And then finally in 1987 I had more of what I guess I'd call the constitutional maturity to be able to do something like that day after day."
So everyday Baden would take a photograph of himself. He had it down to a science in terms of framing, lighting, and set-up.
"I wanted everything to be the same except for the one thing that I couldn't control: whatever happened to my face and flesh over the years," Baden said. "It was meant to be a lifelong project to begin with. What I tried to do was take all the variables involved in the process whether they be what camera, what lens, what lighting source, what backdrop I had, even the way that I looked, and in terms of the way I comb my hair, whether I had a mustache or a beard, and to keep them the same."
He keeps most of the photos on contact sheets stored in photo albums, but has recently began backing up all the pictures on a computer.
What Baden learned is he really hasn't changed all that much. After speaking with researchers who study aging he discovered he has physical features, such as a long face, that have minimal drastic aging changes, similar to the facial features of former Secretary of State John Kerry.
"Part of the project is the difference between trying to be perfect and being human," Baden said. "As much as I try to make each picture a clone the day before or the week before there's always some difference and sometimes it's very subtle, sometimes it's hilariously gross."
