Times they are a’ changin’

Back on September 16, 2008, I wrote:

The last reference was to an iOS app which allowed any snapper to upload newsworthy pictures.

Well, look at this from the Gannett Blog:

Anyone, it seems can take a picture, but few can write. That has long been the mindset in newspaper circles, and while the likes of Robert Capa, W. Eugene Smith and Robert Doisneau might disagree, it’s very much the way of the world.

There’s one born every minute.

Hard to know where to begin when writing about this scam:

Click the picture for the article.

It’s unclear whether the ‘artist’ shared in the spoils – let’s hope so as that makes the whole thing just funnier to contemplate, but I can’t help but quote him:

He said he “carried this idea for a picture around with me for a year-and-a-half”.

I usually trash my losers right after loading the files into Lightroom, but this one wouldn’t even have lasted that long, as I can’t see why anyone would waste time taking it in the first place.

Scummy ‘art dealers’ like Larry Gagosian get away with this sort of thing, selling crap to insecure hedge fund managers desperate to show their wealth on the walls, but that sort of sum could get you a few decent Degas sketches as a minimum.

A fool and his money ….

Sales pitch from Christie’s:

Be sure to listen to the sales pitch linked by Arun Gupta in his Comment, below. For sheer chutzpah, it rivals the picture.

A subtle and powerful ad.

I love good advertising but it’s not something seen too often, so it was a particular pleasure to spot this in the December, 2011 issue of American Vogue:

There is not one iota of reality here. The chap would be freezing with no coat on, his beloved flat on her rear owing to those ridiculous heels and I suppose they flew to their location given the absence of footprints in the fresh snow.

But the message is powerful – the upward view to some mythic destination, the intense effect of the famous cyan Tiffany box, the vicarious thrill the viewer shares at the moment that is about to be. Wonderfully well done, even if he overpaid by 40% ….