Interestingly enough I had just finished writing about the abundance of content on the internet, and how it is difficult for any one image to stand out and become iconic these days. Of course the original Mannie Garcia photograph would have most likely remained quite obscure as, while a quality photo (effective w flag backdrop) there are hundreds of thousands of photographs of Barack Obama. What graphic artist Shepard Fairey did was immortalize the image in the modern day speed of the internet and digital technology. Interestingly enough it also spawned an application in Facebook where you could Obamasize your very own photo, making the sharing and recreation of content complete. So who should get credit and who should get paid, if anyone. Seems it was a group effort, and to be sure while Obama probably doesn't receive royalties for its' reproduction, he is the model in the image, and the popularity perhaps helped propel him to the presidency...thus his reward. As for the photographers, Yes, Shepard Fairey created something unique, but credit must be given, and some financial compensation if possible should be paid to the creator of the image. As much as I hate to admit, this is a case for the lawyers or Creative Commons to work out so a win win situation can be reached. Without this, why would anyone bother to work hard to create new content just to have it taken by unscrupulous individuals for financial gain.
Sources:
Obama photo: Mannie Garcia (AP)/Obama image: Shepherd Fairey, retrieved from http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/09/milton-glaser-weighs.html on 05/02/2010
Obama photo: Mannie Garcia (AP)/Obama image: Shepherd Fairey, retrieved from http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/09/milton-glaser-weighs.html on 05/02/2010
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