People usually take selfies for themselves, not the government.
Anne Jarvis' father, Andrew, is an architect that splits his time between his firm's branches in New York City and Philadelphia. The commute became so overwhelming that he began to rent an apartment in NYC to improve his quality of life.
Upon further inspection of tax laws, Andrew learned that in order to avoid being taxed by New York, he would only be allowed to live in the city 182 days or less out of the year. In preparation for disputes against his living situation, he began taking selfies, as a way to prove to the taxman that he spends more time in Philadelphia, than he does in New York.
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Along with time-stamped selfies of himself underneath the commuter train marquee or with the daily newspaper in hand, Andrew also collects receipts from his day-to-day transactions. The selfies aren't a narcissist obsession, Andrew just likes to play by the rules.
"My dad is the kind of guy who reads the rules of a board game from front to back before embarking on playing the game," his daughter told Mashable. "He cares about facts, practicality, rules, and integrity."
Anne also describes her father as a visual person. (Presumably so, since he's an architect.)
After discovering the photos on her father's camera, Anne felt they should be shared with the world, so she made an Instagram account to showcase her father's pictures. Andrew was surprised that these pictures could be used for anything other than evidence of his residence, but was happy his daughter found them so amusing.
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