There is something delightfully low tech about the self portrait snapped by an unidentified young boy near Nairn in Inverness-shire 106 years ago.
Propping a mirror amid rocks in an open landscape the boy was exploring the potential in a new and expensive piece of equipment. But he was reliant on the mirror for the camera's ability to capture his reflection and would have had to wait to see the results.
Still, it is slightly dubious to claim, as archivists are doing, that this was Scotland's first Selfie.
The modern use of the word (and what other use is there?) is given as the taking of a self portrait photograph and its uploading to a social media website. Some would dispute the final step is necessary, but it would have been beyond our Nairn pioneer.
It is easy to imagine the boy's excitement at the ability to record his image for history. His glee must have been profound as he pressed the shutter. But there it ended. There was no Facebook, Pinterest or other platform to enable him to share his breakthrough.
It is suggested by some that the same moment saw the coinage of another modern phrase: "This is totally bogus, man."
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