A selfie museum is coming to Columbia, SC, with 15 rooms to take the perfect photo
Following in the footsteps of larger cities like Atlanta and Denver, Conetta Griffin and her family are bringing a selfie museum and photography studio to Columbia.
“There was none around here, and I saw no reason that Columbia should not have one [selfie museum]. So we decided to make it our own and do something similar,” said Griffin.
Wired magazine defined a selfie museum as “a new genre of installations, which seem to exist only to produce the perfect photo,” according to a 2017 article. The museum can also be used as a photography studio, a private event space, a recording studio and a brand marketing space, according to the company’s social media.
Selfie Mania will open in Columbia Place Mall on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The selfie museum will include 15 different themed rooms curated for the perfect picture.
Visitors can expect to see a first-class flight-themed room, a cafe room, a locker room, a disco room and a room with a swing covered in flowers, among others.
An office-themed room could make for a professional head shot background, and the business will have numbered balloons in stock for birthday-themed photo shoots, Griffin said. From professional photography to iPhone photos, Selfie Mania is meant to be a photo shoot destination in Columbia.
For its opening weekend, Griffin is selling tickets for half the normal price at $10 each for an hour to explore the studio and take pictures. A VIP event will be held Friday night in an effort to bring attention to the store before it opens.
Selfie Mania will be open Fridays through Sundays and by appointment only on weekdays. Tickets will cost $20 for an hour.
Since May 1, Griffin and her family have been flipping the space at Columbia Place Mall next to the Jimmy Jazz store. They’ve painted the rooms, decorated and made sets for the spaces Griffin envisioned.
“This is my first business venture, and although I am the owner, we’re family operated,” said Griffin.
Similar attractions like Selfie WRLD in Myrtle Beach and Candid Charlotte have popped up in recent years following a trend of consumers paying for Instagrammable experiences.
Places like the Museum of Ice Cream in New York City that arose in 2016 and The Color Factory, an interactive art exhibit that started in San Francisco in 2017 then moved to New York City, were at the forefront of this trend.
A similar attraction in the Midlands is Immersion SC, an interactive art space on Main Street in Columbia that features works by local artists.
This story was originally published June 2, 2021 at 10:54 AM.
