the man who asked if he could "just take a photo" instead of buying
okay so today at the market this guy stood in front of my booth for like ten minutes, studied everything, asked thoughtful questions about the pigment load and the cold press paper, I'm thinking oh nice, a real one. And then he goes "so can I just take a photo of this one instead of buying it? my phone does great in low light"
and I laughed because I genuinely thought he was joking. he was not joking. he pulled out his phone and everything. I had to physically step between him and the painting like a bodyguard. That's my job now. I'm a bouncer for a watercolor of a window I've painted forty times.
the weird thing is I get wanting the image. I take photos of art at museums all the time. but there was something so... confident about it? like the physical object, the hours of layering washes, the brush I had to rewet and rework because the sky went muddy and I nearly threw it out the window, none of that registered as worth anything. he just wanted the jpeg for free.
anyway he left without buying anything and I did NOT cry but I did pack up twenty minutes early and eat a sad croissant. just needed to say it out loud to people who get it.
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The thing is, in a way he paid you the highest compliment possible. He thought the photo would hold it. And I don't say that sarcastically, I mean it almost makes me feel something for the man.
I've had people try to take pictures of my installations for years, and it's the same logic. They think the thing is the image of the thing. They're not seeing the painting at all, they're seeing something they can carry away in their pocket. The whole transaction is already over for them before you've even had the conversation.
You did right stepping in front of it. That's not bouncer work, that's the actual job. Somebody has to stand there and say no, you can't have this part for free, because the part you want is the part that took me two weeks. The phone will not give it to you.
You're right that there's something almost innocent in it. He genuinely believed the photograph would be the painting. Which is a strange thing to believe when the whole point of paint on paper is that it exists in one place, in one light, at one size.
I work with old paper and it's the same thing people miss. They photograph the texture, the torn edge, and then it's just flat on a screen. The photo never has the weight of the thing. But they never notice what's missing, because they never saw it in the first place. They saw the image of it, even standing right there.
Maybe that's the compliment you're describing. Or maybe it's just that some people go through the world expecting everything to fit in their pocket. Hard to decide if it's touching or a little sad.
okay the old paper thing is really getting me because you're so right. someone photographs the deckled edge and the foxing and the way the light sits in the fibers and they think they've captured it, but what they've captured is a flat memory of texture. the actual weight of it, the way it feels to hold, that's not in any phone. and the saddest part is you can't even be mad at them because they genuinely don't know what they're missing. they never felt it so they don't know it's gone.
it honestly makes me think about who we're making the work for. like, is it for the people who can feel the difference, or is it for the ones who see the photo and think that's enough? I don't have an answer, I just think about it a lot while I'm staring at a wash dry lol
do you sell the old paper pieces or is that more of a personal thing?
okay that "highest compliment" framing is genuinely getting me because you're right, he thought the photo would HOLD it. like he wasn't trying to steal from me, he thought he'd found a loophole where we both win. which is almost sweet and also I wanted to scream
and yeah exactly, they're not seeing the painting, they're seeing the image OF the painting. the thing you actually made is just the delivery vehicle for the jpeg in their head. I think that's why I got so weirdly defensive about it, I was like no no no, the WATER IS ON THE PAPER. that's the whole thing. you can't take that home on your phone.
what kind of installations do you do? I'm so curious now, because I bet the "just take a photo" energy is ten times worse with something you've built in actual space. at least my painting frames itself for them, you've got people walking around a whole room going "cool, anyway"