Welcome, creative friends!

Art or Not? Why your Instagram filter might be more groundbreaking than that 'art' photo you took.

In today's rundown:

• 📸 Art Photo Debate

• 🎬 'Zone of Interest' Reigns

• 🎨 Artists are Influencers?

• 🔥 Press Worthy Stories

• 📚 Learn & Grow

Read time: 3 minutes

📸 What Is Art? The Problem With 'Art' Photography

What’s the difference between a regular photo and high-art?

The line's blurrier than a Picasso painting. Take William Eggleston’s tricycle pic—it's either a groundbreaking masterpiece or something you'd flick to the trash on your iPhone.

The debate rages on, and a new video from The Photographic Eye is zooming in on the epic musing. It's not just about Eggleston; it's a deep dive into what makes a picture more than just a snapshot. 

‘The Magic in the Mundane’ is a love letter to the photographers who find beauty in the world’s blind spots. It’s a call to arms for the camera-wielders to break free from the filters of traditional genres and expose the art that's hiding in plain sight.

So, if you’re ready to develop your eye for the extraordinary, this video is the perfect aperture.

Yesterday’s poll:

Which photo stole your heart?
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 😮 David Fuentes
🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🌟 Mayila & Marlene
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 💇 Wig in the Bathroom

🎬 ‘Zone of Interest’ Tops in London

Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” snagged the top spot as Film of the Year at the 44th London Critics’ Circle.

Glazer himself scored Director of the Year for the film. This marks the flick’s third Best Film Prize win this awards season, following victories from the L.A. and Toronto critics groups.

‘Zone’ is also in the running for an Oscar for Best Picture.

Set at the home of Auschwitz bigwig Rudolf Höss (yep, the real-life Nazi), “The Zone of Interest” reveals the commander’s family life right next door to the concentration camp.

It’s an audacious but slow-burning, wide-angle exploration of evil, minus the close-ups. The sound design is a standout, but the story isn’t exactly crowd-pleasing.

As IndieWire critic David Ehrlich puts it, it’s a “breathtakingly distanced and dissociative” take on a Holocaust tale. “It’s haunting in its own kind of bourgeois banality” with “visuals so meticulous they could be xeroxes,” he adds.

Yesterday’s poll:

Nightshade: Will A.I. adapt or die?
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🤖 A.I. is resilient
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🔍 It's just a temporary cloak
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🎨 Artists deserve privacy

🎨 Artists = Influencers?

The artist’s path is no yellow-brick road these days. It’s more like a digital hustle, where creators are part Picasso, part entrepreneur.

Gone are the days of recluse genius. Now, you need a personal brand to sell your art like hotcakes.

That’s the tune playing in today’s creative economy symphony, where you'll get the cold shoulder from publishers for a lack of followers. Ouch.

And it’s not just ink and canvas. Accountants are crunching numbers and marketing themselves online. It’s a self-promotion free-for-all, and artists are feeling the squeeze.

They’re not just making art; they’re making content to feed a hungry algorithm.

This new era isn’t without its casualties - professional critics are fading to black as the thumbs-up tribe takes the stage. But it’s not all gloom and doom. The gatekeepers are unlocking the online world, where a TikTok tune can turn a nobody into a viral somebody.

Still, artists are asking: Is the quest for likes and shares diluting the art itself? 

As the creative landscape shifts, a rallying cry for solidarity sounds across the digital divide. Artists need a stage where marketing takes a bow, and authentic creativity takes the spotlight.

Yesterday’s poll:

AI-generated music: Novelty or the future?
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🎶 Future of Music
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🤷 Can't Replace Humans
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🎵 Just Another Gimmick

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