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Eventually we invented a machine to help record reality. Many people thought of this as cheating, and photography struggled to gain respectability. Still, no one could deny it required great craft and effort.
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Then people figured out that it was the idea that counted. As long as you came up with a concept you could hire out the nuts and bolts of actually producing a photograph, yet still call the final product your own.
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But if it's the idea that counts, why even bother making a photo? Why not take someone else's ready made photo and call it your own?
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Some people felt this was bad for photography, that it was dragging the whole thing back into the sewer.
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Nevertheless the practice continued. People appropriated all sorts of imagery as their own, sometimes barely changing the original except for the addition of a signature and six-digit price tag.
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Then someone decided it wasn't the idea that counted. It was the idea of the idea. Instead of appropriating existing imagery, the thing to do was appropriate the appropriation.
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Where was all this leading? The next step was clear.
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From there it was quickly down the rabbit hole.
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We'd like to climb out of the hole.
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There must be a way.
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But this particular cave is proving hard to escape.
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5 comments:
I like the last picture. Did you use a Photoshop plugin for that effect?
Bravo.
that pixel's worth a cool million...
Excellent.
Didn't Yves Klein sign the sky in the 40's?
I made the photo using a plug in called Cave Painting. It's for sale at $5/pixel.
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