Unearthing The First-Ever Millennium Park 'Bean' Selfie?
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Of all the zillions photos of reflections at The Bean, Roark Frankel's images just might have been the first.
Frankel was part of the Cloud Gate project back when it was being assembled in Millennium Park in 2004.
While touring the site one day in the spring, he did what thousands of tourists and Chicagoans alike have done over the past decade.
He took a picture of himself, reflected in one the shiny stainless steel plates.
Today, they are called "selfies." Back then, the ubiquitous digital portraits weren't a thing. In fact, front-facing phone cameras nearly impossible come by back those days. Roark used a clunky old Sony digital camera for the effect.
The pictures are part of the Chicago Public Library archives of the Bean's construction.
DNA Info first reported on the find.
"It's funny: With Cloud Gate, almost every picture you take of it is a selfie in a way," Frankel told reporter Kelly Bauer.
