The current ‘selfie’ craze is known to everyone. From long ago, the desire to “look at oneself” has grown intensely in the human psyche. Tell someone, “I’ll take a photo,” and even a small child smiles with joy, while a 98-year-old grandmother widens her eyes in excitement.
Throughout history, humans have found immense pleasure in seeing their own image. This is precisely why the mirror has been one of humanity’s most beloved objects for thousands of years. Later, photos and videos joined this list of favorites.
Dawn of Photography
Looking at the fascinating highlights of photographic history, the first person to ‘successfully’ capture a photo was Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833), a French inventor. He is among those responsible for the birth of photography. The photograph he took in 1826 (some say 1827) is the oldest surviving photo in existence.
Interestingly, no person ‘posed’ for Niépce’s photo. The subject was simply the view seen through his window. If we look at it today, it’s hard to even distinguish what we are seeing because the image resolution is so low. But that is where humanity’s obsession with photos began.
Actually, that wasn’t Niépce’s first attempt. He had captured a photo as early as 1814 using a wooden box camera made in Paris, but it didn’t last; it faded away almost immediately. At the time, he used a plate coated with a mixture of chemicals. The areas where light hit became white and the image appeared faint, but the dark areas faded quickly, leaving the plate looking like a blank white sheet.
Later, the camera was ‘improved,’ and refined plate cameras emerged. In 1826, using an improved plate camera, Niépce captured his famous image. The funny thing is, after he set the camera by the window, it took 8 hours for the image to form on the plate! Afterward, Niépce and his associates developed it through a careful chemical process, gifting the world its first permanent photograph.
Evolution to the Masses
The history of cameras and photography is long, built on the hard work of numerous inventors. Plate cameras saw significant improvements until the 1880s. In 1885, America’s George Eastman (1854-1932) manufactured a camera that used roll film instead of plates. This eliminated the need to change plates for every single photo and reduced the size of the camera.
In 1900, Eastman’s Kodak company began selling small cameras for just $1. Named the ‘Brownie Box Camera’, it made photography popular among the masses. Step by step, photography evolved into the smartphone-selfie era we see today—becoming a global phenomenon that sometimes feels “excessive” or “extreme.”
The “Movie” Revolution and the AI Shift
Another medium that deeply influenced the public is the ‘Movie’ (Motion Picture) and video field. Throughout history, public cinema halls were the center of attraction. However, while the influence of ‘video’ is higher than ever today, the charm of public cinema halls is fading. It is doubtful whether cinema theaters will even exist 50 years from now.
The technological revolution of the YouTube era has already made movies and entertainment available whenever and wherever we want. Now, through AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology, people have started creating their own ‘movies.’
Until now, filmmaking was a grand, celebratory industry involving taking actors to various locations, shooting, and performing extensive backend work. It still is—films earning billions are being made. But whether this will last is questionable. As AI grows, traditional ‘shooting’ methods may disappear. The technology to handle scripts and filming through AI already exists. AI short films are being produced, and soon AI will create full-length feature films. This revolution will make producing countless movies at a low cost a common occurrence.
Future: From Superstars to “Selfie-Stars”
We are moving toward a trend where people will create an excess of movies and share millions of them with each other. Soon, the idea of gathering many people in one place to watch a movie without them getting up might be considered an “old method.” (Though the way we make and watch them will change, movies themselves will survive because of their psychological impact).
Historically, cinema attracted all ages and classes. In reality, there isn’t much difference between plays (theater) and films. Films started as ‘video recordings’ of plays, which initially caused concern for the theater world. As people realized that film could show better “tricks,” more nuanced visuals, and close-up facial expressions, movies became more popular.
Since AI can show even more “miracles,” we can expect AI films to challenge traditional ‘shooting’ movies. The possibility of being the producer, director, scriptwriter, and actor all at once will quickly attract people. The craze of feeding one’s own face into AI software to star in high-quality (but low-cost) movies will grow rapidly. In the next 10-15 years, professional actors may find it a huge challenge to maintain their demand. They might even find it necessary to return to the theater!
Looking Back at the Origins
Cinema has been a part of life for over 100 years. While there is some debate over the inventor, most agree on the Lumière brothers—Auguste and Louis—from Lyon, France. In December 1895, they organized the first cinema screening, showing a scene of factory workers walking.
The Lumière brothers created a machine called the ‘Cinématographe’ which recorded stages of motion on a long celluloid film. The moment they projected this film onto a wall using lamplight was the birth of ‘Cinema.’ That first movie had only visuals—no sound.
The transition to ‘Talkies’ was another leap. By 1927, ‘The Jazz Singer’ became the first full-length feature film with synchronized dialogue and music. Before sound was integrated into film, theaters used to hire live musicians to play instruments during screenings to provide a background score!
AI vs. Human Drama
In a decade or two, these current traditions will be replaced by new ones. Soon, AI-generated movies might be projected directly onto contact lenses. Traveling through city traffic to a theater might feel like a chore.
Interestingly, in the age of AI, theater (plays) might actually attract more people. Theater has been a cultural lifeline for thousands of years and still survives because of the “human experience.” As long as humans are curious to see another human’s ‘acting’ in person, theater will live.
While the movie world will be turned upside down by AI, the entertainment field might stabilize into two categories: AI-Movies and Human-Drama. No matter how attractive the fictional faces presented by AI are, the natural human instinct to watch real people perform live will likely keep the demand for theater alive.
We are heading toward the peak of ‘selfie’ madness: a world of ‘AI-Movie-Stars’ and ‘AI-Superstars’ where everyone projects themselves as the hero of their own digital cinema.
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