Why there’s no photograph of anything famous
If you go to Marfa, you’ll see the influence of sculptor Donald Judd’s Chinati Foundation. And if you visit the Foundation, you’ll have to agree, in writing, to not publish any photographs that you take of the various art installations. So, instead of seeing my shots of the famous 100 untitled works in milled aluminum, you get this: ruins of something that’s across the street from the Foundation’s headquarters.
(I don’t think I agreed to not publish any shots of the ruins.)
(And, anyway, I like this better than the milled aluminum boxes. Even though my photographs of them were quite fabulous.)
Marfa, Texas
photographed 11.12.2010
Posted on August 4, 2013, in Photography and tagged 365 photo project, abandoned buildings, architecture, black and white photography, chinati foundation, donald judd, marfa, marfa texas, melinda green harvey, one day one image, photo a day, photography, texas. Bookmark the permalink. 16 Comments.
One Day | One Image 
This is better than famous anyway.
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Yeah, who needs famous when there are building ruins to shoot?
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That’s right!
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This should be famous, great see through too!
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Thanks, Ron. Maybe these old buildings WILL be famous some day, and the same kind of earnest young art interns will give ponderous talks about it. (Because that’s what happens at the Chinati Foundation….)
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Who wants famous? I much prefer these ruins.
PS What’s the penalty for breaking the agreement?
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In general, I will always choose ruins….
I don’t know what the penalty is, but it’s probably having to listen to the art interns talk about Art. So, it’s not worth the risk!
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I’m sure I’d have forgotten any agreements after 3 years 🙂
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You are probably right; it may be that I had more fun complaining about it!
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Fame is over rated!!! Trust me.
But this photo is not over rated. This would actually make a nice enlargement for my living room.
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I will take your word re. fame.
I would certainly be happy to accommodate your living room art requirements. Maybe we could arrange a trade?
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Have to agree – far better than milled aluminium. Damned clever of them to have art interns mete out punishment, extremely effective. Now, if you had an anonymous blog, (cough), you could ignore the contract as it is likely too much work to chase down.
Looking at this and wondering how you do it, I get the impression of you walking back and forth until you got this perfect alignment through the windows. Like a lion pacing, for whatever reason they do that.
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Maybe if I knew *someone* who blogged anonymously, I could make some sort of an arrangement….
Here’s another shot from the same place: http://bit.ly/13Dc7WS. There wasn’t much (or any, really) need for pacing, as the buildings were close enough together that almost any view was good, photographically speaking.
But, still, I like the idea of pacing back and forth, shaking my camera at the heavens in frustration, waving my arms around, and just generally looking like a fool until, as if by magic: a perfect scene presents itself.
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Don’t forget, when pacing, to toss your mane, from time to time.
That other photo you linked to is very nice, I might even like it more than this one.
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I am going to grow my hair out, so I actually have a mane to toss.
I like the earlier photo better, too, even though it’s in color!
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