My last visit to the National Gallery of Art I entered with an entire busload of Japanese tourists.

As we were moving through the galleries together I realized that this group of people were excellent selfie takers!

Now if you’ve been following along here for any length of time you know that where I start is usually not even close to where I end up. The journey on this particular day was how much effort selfies were before cellular phones.

In the present day…people with zero artistc ability can use selfie sticks & take as many shots as they need until they get a decent enough image to doctor with clever crops & fabulous filters.

But before that..

Cameras…

1. Set up the camera at the right height & angle. 2. Set the timer. 3. Then run like the wind to get in to the frame before the click. 4. Pray for a good shot.

But what about prior to cameras?

Seriously think about that!

To take a selfie…you had to have serious skills to draw, paint, or sculpt an image of yourself.

So I decided to do a new feature called #SelfieSaturday to celebrate how artists wished to present themselves to the world.

To kick it off…here is one of my own selfies. It’s a fave. It was taken several years ago while camping with friends.