May 26, 2021

Curious Frame - Issue #32 - Follow up on NFTs

By Leanne Staples • Issue #32 • View online

Greetings curious readers. Unfortunately, I am unable to publish this issue of the newsletter today. The health issues that I had that led to my hospital stay in March, are back and my time has been spent dealing with it and all of the bureaucracy that goes with it.

Curiosity leads me down many paths. They often do not have easy answers or at least they are things that I am still researching in an effort to understand them. So I thank the readers of the previous newsletter for commenting on NFTs.

While there won’t be a regular issue today, the comments on NFTs are published here in full.

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Reader's comments:

Don’t keep those thoughts to yourself. Curious Frame is about dialogue and I’d love to hear your comments or even questions or inspirations. And it’s easy. Just hit reply in your email.

Your opinions are valued. No advanced degrees or education required. Normally, I would shorten the comments but the second one merits being quoted in full.

You can comment on the comments from the previous issue or you can also comment on any of the previous issues as well.

One reader commented on last issue:

FYI Based on the sale price and size,1 pixel of Beebles image is worth $15.00

Another reader commented:

Hello, i thought i might write to both clarify the subject of NFT as well as point out some problems to think about.

NFT is simply a means to ensure the uniqueness of a digital image. Using the same technology as cryptocurrency, it creates a unique, one-of-a-kind “code” that authenticates a digital file, usually an image, as unique.

To speak of “NFT art” therefore isn’t really logical. Any digital file can and has been made an NFT. In the photo world that you and the readers inhabit, people may think of their digital photography; any image can be an NFT. Any. To provide an example, you may see:

Woman in Disaster Girl meme sells original photo as NFT for $500,000 | Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) | The Guardian

Zoë Roth says she plans to use proceeds from sale of 2005 image of her smirking in front of burning house to pay student loans

www.theguardian.com • Share

That said, when you mention the work of Beeple and ZAM, you specify a kind of digital art, computer-generated art. This isn’t NFT art, its art where the tools are software. Whether or not it’s art or not is up to question. But…. suggesting that images of Marilyn Monroe (or Marlene Dietrich) that you can simulate, doesn’t disqualify the images as art. A quick tour through the portfolio of Andy Warhol should prove that lots of people consider copied images of celebrities to be indeed art.

I do not mean this to be critical or mean-spirited, so i apologise if it comes off that way. To be honest, i am not a fan of Beeple, nor of Andy Warhol. But both made me think, which i suppose is what art is supposed to do. And which your newsletter does as well. Be well, hope to run into you on the street sometime.

Thanks so much for your response. Your comments are appreciated and are not taken as mean-spirited. Perhaps my only area of difference is that I wouldn’t group Beeple and Warhol in the same arena. Yes, I hope that we meet on the street someday.

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This is a double exposure photo that I took of myself and the 2 attendees of a Soho Workshop on 20 May 2021.

I’m hoping to be back next Wednesday with the topic that I had planned. Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to your comments and even suggestions.

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Curious Frame - In a world that is overpopulated with images, Curious Frame is where I share my thoughts on photography. It is always about ‘seeing with new e

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Artist, Photographer & Writer - Leanne Staples

Leanne Staples is a lens-based artist, photographer and writer based in New York City. She specializes in abstract and street photography.

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By Leanne Staples

In a world that is overpopulated with images, Curious Frame is where I share my thoughts on photography. It is always about ‘seeing with new eyes’.

I’m Leanne Staples, a photographer, artist, and writer living in New York City. Street photography and lens-based art are my passions, and Curious Frame is where I’ll be sharing my thoughts on these passions.

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