Wrong, or shamed by their opinions, as Flickr user André Rabelo saw when he uploaded this black and white photo to a Flickr pool called DeleteMe!, which votes on whether a photo has any right being amongst the top classes of photography.
Rabelo must have been stunned to see that the photo was deleted very quickly, with harsh amateur critics denouncing it for being “blurry”, having “camera shake”, and “contrived” amongst other flaws. Not that Rabelo was personally hurt, as the photo wasn’t taken by him – it was actually shot in 1932 by the “father of modern photojournalism” Henri Cartier-Bresson, which sold in 2008 at auction for $US265,000.
Over 500 comments have been added to Rabelo’s uploaded photo, and it makes for a hilarious yet thought-provoking read flipping through the pages. The first batch of comments from the DeleteMe! group some 68 months ago look rather foolish in hindsight, but not as foolish (in my eyes) as the bandwagon-jumpers who latched onto the prank once it was revealed, calling it “art” and a “masterpiece”.
While the first commenters may have been overly-vitriolic, especially considering the source of the photo, isn’t their honesty in the face of ignorance… refreshing? [MagnumPhotos via Flickr via PetaPixel]