Popularity is not a measure of artistic merit

This bit of industrial design/architecture resides in the far corner of a supermarket parking lot in Belgium. At first it looks like and incredibly straightforward image but the more you look the more you discover. Click on the image to see the larger version.

It never ceases to amaze me how diverse audiences respond to different images. Some images have broad appeal while others have a much smaller appeal but are liked with a passion.

A word of caution to my colleagues out there. Popularity is not a measure of artistic value. If it were then most of the modern art museums would have to throw their exhibits in a skip.

So what is an appropriate measure of artistic value. That's a tough question. I don't know the answer but what I do know is that if a few people respond passionately to an image I've made, it makes me happy.

Cheers,
Paul

Comments

Anonymous said…

Beautifully put. I don't trust the number of views an image gets due to the amount of bots out there these days, but one comment even as short as "Nice shot!" is enough to make me happy.

ps. Nice shot!

17:01

Anonymous said…

If that we're true, only the cute girls on Flickr would be considered ART!

15:46

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