Long before they were called selfies, Karl Baden snapped a simple black and white photo of himself. Then he repeated it every day for the next three decades.

The stark contemplation on mortality and aging has prompted some to dub the Boston College professor the unwitting “father of the The 64-year-old Cambridge resident grumbles at comparisons to the pouty face, self-congratulatory portraits that fill Instagram and Facebook. But he recognizes the ubiquity of the ” ” – a word that didn’t become widespread until this decade – has helped raise the profile of the project, which has been exhibited in art galleries in Boston, New York City and elsewhere over the craze, I’d probably be slogging along in anonymity as usual,” Baden joked this week.