15 minutes of fame
People’s response to my pictures always surprises me. Sometimes, I’ll take a picture that just blows me a way, but nobody else will get it. Other times, some image I’d pass over is adored by everyone who sees it. Here on the internet, things are even wackier.
I’ve been snooping around my server logs to see what poeple find interesting. Last month, this picture from my Tuileries portfolio hot. No less than five blogs featured this photo as their background image (1 2 3 4 5). The bloggers were almost all teens or early 20-somethings, ranging in location from New York and New Jersey, to way out west in Bakersfield.
Of course the interesting question is: why do they like it so much? Of all the photos on my gallery site, this is the last photo I would’ve guessed teens would respond to. Maybe it’s the wistfulness of it? Who knows? But: teen fashion is fickle. All but one of the blogs have switched to another photo and this image has returned to quiet obscurity.
The hot image this month appears to be “Young Love” which I posted to this blog in May. For some reason, it’s hit count has gone through the roof; easily double that of any other blog entry. Two blogs have picked it up (1 2). It’s the most frequently visited photo I have on Flickr. This one’s popularity I understand - cute works. Now why cute took six months to start working, I don’t know, but it’s working now.
Maybe it’s all google’s fault, and the true explanation is known only to some minion deep in the bowels of the Googleplex. After all, these photos are now showing up in the first few items on Google Images searches for “modern photography” and “young love”.
Whatever the reason, I am still thoroughly entertained watching to see which pieces people respond to.
How about you? What’s your favorite picture?
