In 2019 designboom wrote: "j.f. novotny finds exotic, rare cameras and arranges them in front of a mirror to take selfies of themselves. and so, a narcissistic instagram phenomenon has become a gorgeous technique for archiving the personality and beauty of revolutionary cameras."

Trying to to give all those vintage cameras a soul, my CameraSelfies ® project has been featured in numerous magazines, newspapers and online galleries during the past 6 years. 99 CameraSelfies ® have now been captured, only 1 to go to reach the magical 100...

I wanted to find out what happens if photo cameras came up with the idea to take selfies. Looking for vintage cameras at online auction portals I learned that non-digital cameras seemed in fact to be forgotten: beautiful and still great cameras I couldn’t afford a few years ago are now available for a few bucks. 

CNN wrote in 2014: "You won't see any pouty lips or peace signs in these selfies. The criticized and laughable trend has spread to the devices used to capture them. Prepping for their ultimate self-portrait, vintage cameras docked on old tripods pucker up for their own selfie against backdrops that bring out their best qualities. No filters necessary."

My Modern Met (2019): "Novotny feels it’s important to celebrate these “beautiful mechanical miracles of their time” — many of which are sadly discarded in favor of digital equipment. “They reminded me of the fate of the toys in ‘Toy Story’: still fully functional yet not needed anymore; I became a little bit angry and began to think of their fate,” Novotny tells My Modern Met."

Lensculture (2014): "In our digital age, the sensation and appreciation for physical, mechanical miracles seems to be largely disappearing. Yet "analog" film cameras stubbornly retain a strange and special character, a material fascination that keeps people coming back. While the world has been subjected to innumerable selfies in the past few years, these unusual self-portraits offer some genuine intimacy and unique personalities. The selfie is dead—long live the selfie!"

CameraSelfies ® uses the now universally apparent (and more and more exhausting) “selfiemania” trend to recall its origins: By placing special emphasis on those forgotten beauties I want to declare my belief that they are not only tools reduced to their technical data, but also still an inspiration for artists and a source for creativity.

More details @ cameraselfies.com as well as jfnovotny.com
Please find also CameraSelfies ® part 1, part 2 and part 3 on Behance.

Every CameraSelfie ® is available as limited and open editions at SaatchiArt.