This Is What Selfies Looked Like in the 1940s

2 minute read

When Gjon Mili invited celebrities to his studio in 1944 for a session in self-portraiture, the word “selfie” was 70 years from inclusion in the Oxford English Dictionary. “Duck face” was nothing more than the mug of a quacking animal, and Kim Kardashian’s father was a newborn baby, 36 years from fathering the future queen of selfies. But one look at the portraits they produced that day, and it’s not hard to imagine the subjects holding an iPhone 6 instead of a remote-controlled shutter release.

Photographic self-portraits date back to 1839, when Robert Cornelius mugged for his camera in the back of his family’s store in Philadelphia. So when Van Johnson and Geraldine Fitzgerald took their own photographs with Mili’s help, they were not pioneers, but participants in the evolution of an art form. And their poses are not so different from those of today’s selfies: Fitzgerald sports a barely-there smirk and Johnson an expression of “gee golly” innocence, actor S.Z. Sakall “cuddles” himself while singer Lauritz Melchior feigns surprise. Their photos make it clear that although the technology we use to capture it has advanced by leaps and bounds, human expression—duck face aside—has changed little over time.

Photographer Gjon Mili instructing actress Geraldine Fitzgerald on how to take her own photograph.
Photographer Gjon Mili instructing actress Geraldine Fitzgerald on how to take her own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

 

Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk.

Actress Geraldine Fitzgerald holding shutter release as she takes her own photograph.
Actress Geraldine Fitzgerald holding shutter release as she takes her own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Actor Van Johnson holding shutter release as he takes his own photograph.
Actor Van Johnson holding shutter release as he takes his own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Actor John Garfield posing as he takes his own photograph.
Actor John Garfield posing as he takes his own photograph. Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Actress Joyce Reynolds holding shutter release to take her own photograph.
Actress Joyce Reynolds holding shutter release to take her own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Actor Robert Alda posing as he takes his own photograph.
Actor Robert Alda posing as he takes his own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Actor S. Z. Sakall "Cuddles" holding shutter release as he takes his own photograph.
Actor S. Z. Sakall "Cuddles" holding shutter release as he takes his own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Actress Larraine Day holding shutter release as she takes her own photograph.
Actress Larraine Day holding shutter release as she takes her own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Singer/actor Lauritz Melchior holding shutter release as he takes his own photograph.
Singer/actor Lauritz Melchior holding shutter release as he takes his own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Director Michael Curtiz holding shutter release as he takes his own photograph.
Director Michael Curtiz holding shutter release as he takes his own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Makeup artist Perc Westmore posing as he takes his own photograph.
Makeup artist Perc Westmore posing as he takes his own photograph.Gjon Mili—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

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Write to Eliza Berman at eliza.berman@time.com