hiroshi ueda , a photographer who worked as an engineer for camera company minolta , claims that he first invented the selfie stick in the 1980s .
he said he came up with the idea after struggling to get pictures of himself and his wife together while they were in europe .
after having his camera stolen by a child he asked to take their picture in the louvre museum in paris , he dreamed up a solution - an extendable stick with a tripod screw .