In 2007, Washington Post writer Gene Weingarten conducted a social experiment in which he recruited one of the world’s great violinists, Joshua Bell, to play in a Washington D.C. subway station. Just two days prior to the experiment, Bell had played in a sold-out Boston theater in which ordinary tickets sold for $100 apiece. The entire experiment was filmed using a hidden camera:

In the end, of the 1,097 people who passed by Joshua Bell, only seven stopped to listen to the music. His 45-minute performance of six famous (though not necessarily recognizable) classical pieces earned $32.17 from 27 passersby, with some dropping pennies. As a result of his experiment and subsequent article for the Post, Weingarten won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing.

I recently thought about this experiment, and whether the general public is just as blind to greatness in photography as it is in music. Our our fast paced lifestyles and millisecond attention spans, many recent trends in photography seem to be pushing towards delivering eye-candy and a quick “wow” factor rather than substantive work that will stand the test of time.

For example, consider the following photographs:

On the left is a HDR photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge that was a hit on Flickr, attracting 344,783 views, 1,097 favorites, and 248 comments. On the right is “Los Angeles, California”, taken in 1969 by Garry Winogrand. The image on the left may attract eyes due to its surreal nature, dark clouds, and over-saturated colors, but I would question whether it has any ability to “stand the test of time” and become significant as a photograph. Some might call it “eye-candy” (not to bash on HDR, since I do believe HDR has its place and can be done beautifully).

On the other hand, the photograph by Winogrand may not attract eyes as easily (and some may even ignore it due to it being black and white), but it provides a beautiful glimpse into a period of our history that is delicately mindful of framing, lighting, and timing.

Thus, I feel as though credit for “greatness” is often bestowed upon modern-day photographers whose work may soon lose its appeal and become utterly insignificant, while those who are producing great work may fly under the radar and never be noticed by the general public.

What are your thoughts? Are there any modern day photographers who are under-appreciated now, but have the potential of becoming the next Ansel Adams or Dorothea Lange?

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Image credit: Golden Gate HDR by vgm8383

Just came across this hilarious animation of two guys discussing “thinking outside the box”. Now, I guess these guys could be anyone from philosophers to painters, but I like to think they’re photographers who are trying too hard to be “artistic”. Enjoy.

Doesn’t the conversation sound like something you might hear between two students in a photography class?

outside the box by joseph Pelling (via A Photo Editor)

Seldom do the wonderful worlds of video games and photography meet, but when they do, fun often ensues.

Photography has had a relatively quiet but constant presence in video games over the last two decades, usually featured in video game titles as a mini-game or bonus mode. A few incorporate photography into the main storyline.

Here’s a roundup of some of my favorite photo-related titles over the years, ranked by their incorporation of photographic elements into the gameplay.

#1. Pokémon Snap (1999)

Developer: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo 64
Genre: Action

Gotta photograph ‘em all doesn’t quite sound as snappy, but Pokemon Snap is the first and arguably most successful Pokémon spinoff console-based title. Aptly named amateur photographer Todd Snap ventures through seven different landscapes, on assignment by Professor Oak to be the very best Pokemon photographer–like no one ever was.

For nostalgic gamers who want to party like it’s 1999, Pokémon Snap is now available for download on Wii’s Virtual Console.

#2. Dead Rising (2006)

Developer: Capcom
Platforms: Xbox 360
Genre: Action/Survival horror

Freelance photographer Frank West is out get the scoop in a small suburban town that seems to have a slight zombie infestation. Fortunately, Frank West happens to be remarkably in shape–like most seasoned war photographers, apparently. Not only can he gain experience points as he takes unnaturally zoomed photos with what looks like a 17-35mm, Nikon D1X, West can use almost anything as a weapon: mall benches, lawn mowers, chainsaws, trash cans, other zombies–you get the picture.

#3. Fatal Frame Series (2002-2008)

Developer: Tecmo
Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, Wii
Genre: Survival horror

The protagonist of Fatal Frame combats angry spirits of the dead with a camera while roaming around creepy environments. The gameplay is very similar to a first-person shooter game, except the main character wields an antique camera in lieu of a shotgun. Published at the onset of the digital photography era, this game pays an homage to film photography, as ammunition comes in the form of special types of film.
Fatal Frame is the first in its series, which includes Fatal Frame II, III, and a Japanese version of IV for the NintendoWii.

#4. Beyond Good and Evil (2003)

Developer: Ubisoft
Platform: PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube
Genre: Action Adventure

Much like Frank West in Capcom’s Dead Rising, the protagonist in Beyond Good and Evil is an investigative reporter with above-average athletic prowess–she knows her martial arts. Set in a rustic future, young journalist Jade tackles the tough issues of human trafficking and propaganda, armed with her camera and a jō staff.

#5. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Developer: Treyarch, Vicarious Visions
Platforms: PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PSP, Wii
Genre: Action

Even Spider-Man has bills to pay. In Spider-Man 3, freelance photojournalist Petey goes on assignment around the city, occasionally taking self-portraits. Is that ethical?

In any case, at least his thin wallet is true-to-life.

#6. Bully (2006)

Developer: Rockstar
Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Wii
Genre: Action/Adventure

Never had the time to take a photography course? In Rockstar’s schoolhouse adventure, Bully, a photo class is in the required curriculum. Jimmy Hopkins, the anti-hero, roams the halls of Bullworth Academy to complete his homework assignments.

#7. Metal Gear Solid (1998), Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001), and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)

Developer: Konami
Platform: PlayStation, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3
Genre: Third Person Action

Amidst Hideo Kojima’s thought-provoking storyline, an excellent soundtrack, and groundbreaking graphics, Kojima gives a nod to photography in several Metal Gear Solid titles.

Special espionage commando Solid Snake uses a camera in the Tank Hangar basement in the first Metal Gear Solid.

In MGS 2, Solid Snake and sidekick Raiden sneak stealthily around industrial settings, avoiding exclamatory guards and disabling weapons of mass destruction. Solid Snake uses a spy camera in a mission, which can be unlocked and equipped after the game is completed once.

Metal Gear Solid 4 contains a bizarre photo shoot Easter Egg. While fighting the Beauty bosses, avoid combat for three minutes and the photo shoot mode will be activated.

#8. BioShock (2007, 2008)

Developer: 2K
Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Genre: First-Person Shooter

Released initially for the Xbox 360 and later as a port to PlayStation 3, BioShock’s silent protagonist makes his way through a submarine 1940s dystopia that has been ravaged by the excesses of its vain, idealistic society. Along the way, he collects a research camera with which he can photograph enemies to improve fighting ability in future encounters.

Honorable Mentions:

Grand Theft Auto 4

Photography plays a very minor role in the gameplay of GTA 4, appearing in an assassination mission. Protagonist Niko uses a camera phone (no fancy SLR in this gritty game) to take a photo of and confirm a hit via photo messaging. How convenient!

Myst IV: Revelation

The last installment of the Myst series provides a camera for collecting clues to solve hair-pulling puzzles.

Screenshot Photography Modes, Various Titles

Other games include a photography feature, separate from the gameplay. Most recently, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves includes a screen capture, or photo mode (Visit The Sixth Axis for a screen capture forum here).

More titles with a screen capture mode include Gears of War 2, Halo 3 (for tips on capturing boast-worthy screenshots, visit Paradox460 ) and Gran Turismo 4, which has its own flickr group. Additional racing titles also have this feature, such as Forza 2, MotorStorm Pacific Rift, Wipeout HD, Tourist Trophy, and more.

Game Face Feature, EA Sports Titles

This past September, EA Sports introduced a new feature, Game Face, an upgrade of Photo Game Face, which works with games such as FIFA 10, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Facebreaker and Fight Night Round 4 on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. Game Face incorporates photography into character customization by letting players upload their own faces into different games as well as while creating their own avatar. The program is an interesting, though fluffy feature, akin to the PlayStation Eye and EyeToy, neither of which fared particularly well on the market. Game Face is still in its BETA stage, so we’ve yet to see whether it takes off.

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We hope you enjoyed our virtual photo roundup. If you’ve got a favorite video game photo op moment, please share it with us!

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Image credits: All images credited to their respective developers.

I’m a big fan of Threadless and the seemingly infinite stream of hilarious t-shirts designs that are constantly being created by its dedicated community. However, I haven’t been able to find many shirts designed specifically for photographers on the service. Yesterday I tweeted a request for links to photography related t-shirt designs, and received quite a large number of interesting responses. After looking through all the links tweeted in response, here are my favorites (click the shirts to go to where they’re sold):

#1: I Can’t Draw

One of the few photography-related t-shirts I was able to find on Threadless.

#2: Spray and Pray

Who cares what or how you shoot if you can put it through Photoshop it afterwards?

#3: Beware of the Photographer

If you’re not careful around me, you might get shot (or Photoshopped).

#4: Camera Display Panel

A great shirt to confuse non-photogs. See if you can trick people into believing they’re all math symbols.

#5: Smile Baby

#6: Instant Pool Party

Threadless shirts are always top-notch.

#7: Flasher

Hmmm…

#8: Aperture

Another minimalistic design. Maybe it’s saying “Shoot from (or at) the hip”?

#9: 18% Grey

Amazing! A shirt that doubles as a gray card…

#10: photographer’s friend

Give this to your assistant and have him or her simply stand in for a picture.

#11: Photographer Grrl

#12: I Like To Flash People

#13: You are here, But I can fix that in Photoshop

#14: oh, crop

This shirt is a chance to show just how nerdy you are.

#15: photographr

For those of you who are obsessed with Flickr.

#16: Hassel

#17: What the f-stop

#18: Camera Girl

#19: Photographic Memory

#20: Lens

A pretty minimalistic design by Chase Jarvis. Become the lens.

#21: Sunny 16 Rule

If you ever forget the rule, just look in the mirror.

Hanging Cameras

Many of the shirt designs I found simply had a camera hanging around the neck. Here are six of them:

Clever, but Text

Most of the shirts I found were clever, but only contained text. I’ve collected some here, since I didn’t want to waste space displaying too many shirts with only text on them:

• Fix it in post
• photographer (fә-tŏǵrә-fәr)
• It’s okay, I’m a photographer
• I’m a photographer, not a tourist
• I’m a photographer… What’s your excuse?
• I shoot people with my Canon
• Will take pictures for food

Online Stores

Here are a list of online stores, shops, and merchandise pages that offer photography-related t-shirts:

• What the Duck Merchandise
• Cafe Press: Search for Photographer and Photography
• RedBubble: Search for Photographer and Photography
• Forty/Sixty
• Rumplo: Photography and Photographer tags

Update: Received another interesting design via email, called Photoshoplifter. Check it out!

Update 2: Here’s yet another design emailed to us: Still Need The Vision

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A big thank you to everyone who helped us put together this list by sending us links via Twitter! You guys are awesome! If you know of any funny/awesome/cool shirts that we didn’t include, please share it with us by leaving a comment!