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August 12, 2004

Art imitates photography?

Kalman illustration.jpg
Maira Kalman, "Blue Wall/Red Hair" (2004)/Julie Saul Gallery

soth_10.jpg
Alec Soth, "New Orleans, Louisiana" (2003)

I was pleasantly surprised to see this cool illustration of one of Alec Soth's photos in the August 2 issue of The New Yorker. But then I was appalled to realize that neither The New Yorker nor the illustrator credited Soth as the originator of the image.

When I asked Alec Soth about it, he wrote back:

"The New Yorker did call and ask for permission regarding the Kalman
illustration. I said it was okay. But it would have been nice to have
received a little credit. Oh well."

What an easy-going, good-natured guy.

Posted by jimcasper at August 12, 2004 12:14 PM
Comments

when i saw this illustration in the New Yorker, i made the exact connection: this illustration is just like one of Alec's photographs! I thought, however, it was an uncanny coincidence. (for life/art is like that...). It's nice to hear the story, though Alec should have received his due credit. And after seeing the two images side-by-side, i can tell this is no coincidence - they are too similiar (for art/life is not that exact!)

Posted by: Laura at August 15, 2004 07:00 AM

dear jim casper,
no need to be appalled. we, of course, talked to alex & he knew all about maira's illustration & our publication of it before it appeared in the magazine & we was delighted and thrilled. glad you liked it and glad you are watching out for photographers. e.

elisabeth biondi
212.286.5937

Posted by: Elisabeth Biondi at August 17, 2004 07:22 PM

Elisabeth, his name is ALEC not ALEX. Your copy editing dept is stellar. Get them to review your blog comments.

I dunno. Alec's quote in this post doesn't quite indicate "delighted and thrilled" to me.

Posted by: Todd W. at January 24, 2005 12:36 PM
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