On a recent visit to the Louvre [pronounced loov], I was perplexed at the other tourist’s obsession with photographing famous artwork. The strategy was to hoist your camera above the throng, to give the illusion that you and Mona spent some quiet time together or perhaps that you are 7’4” and that this is a perfectly natural angle to take a photograph from. But there are two problems with this strategy: (1) it doesn’t represent what you saw at the Louvre, (2) it is no favour to the artist when you proudly display this horrible picture to your friends. Showing bad photos of good paintings is like paraphrasing a great novel or reenacting a concert on your air guitar.
I opted for a different strategy - shoot what is there - tourists taking bad pictures of good art.
- the paparazzi
- I love this self portrait, maybe she’ll tag Venus on facebook.
- virgin on the iPhone
- an intimate moment with Mona
