Hiroshi Ueda

Forgotten inventor of the selfie stick who revolutionized photography

Decades before smartphone culture, Japanese engineer Hiroshi Ueda (US Patent 4,457,602) invented the "extender stick for cameras" in 1983 while working at Minolta. Frustrated by needing strangers to take family vacation photos, he created an adjustable telescoping rod with mirror attachment for self-framing.

Despite its brilliance, the invention was mocked as "the narcissism stick" by 1980s media. Minolta sold only limited units. Ueda's concept gained recognition only after Wayne Fromm's 2005 commercial version. Today, over 150 million selfie sticks have been sold worldwide, enabling new forms of visual storytelling from tourist snapshots to protest documentation.

Ueda's story exemplifies how cultural timing affects innovation. His persistence through initial ridicule created a tool that democratized photography, reshaping social media and personal documentation practices globally.