Can I touch the hem of his garment?
Joi Ito's Web:
Joi Ito has been at the center of critical movements to make technology, and creative freedom, available widely. He loves his profession, and he does it well. Mornings for him do not begin with the regret of who he couldn't be. But his success in these fields has also given him an understanding of the people in these fields. In the twenty-some years of his work, he has come to know the people of these industries (both commercial and non-profit) well. They are his friends (Ito has no enemies). He engages them as a friend, always concerned and giving, never short or impatient. He understands them by learning to see them in a certain way. He engages them with the love of friendship by learning to see them in the most beautiful, or distinctive way, possible. Digital technologies have now given us a way to see just how Joi sees the world. By lowering the cost of access and practice, the technologies have allowed Ito to become an accomplished amateur photographer. But 'accomplished' in this context means that he has learned how to capture the person he sees. And unlike the professional photographer, who ordinarily has 10 minutes to come to 'know' the person he photographs, Ito has had his whole professional career. He knows the people in this book. He has come to see them in their most beautiful, or extraordinary light, and he has perfected an ability to capture what he sees, and share it with all of us.Jesus, what is this? Messianic 2.0? And this saccharine hagiography is from the introduction to a "limited edition" (I can just imagine the price) collection of "portraits." Note the usual technology has disintermediated photography bilge. The ironic thing: Joi Ito is rich. He could already easily afford both access and practice, I'm sure. But we get sold this usual crap about taking photography away from some vague "priesthood", and Joichi Ito gets to scrapbook on a global scale. What a racket. You unwashed not getting comped a copy can download the CC-licensed flickr images, though I'm unsure why you'd want to since it's the usual conference-roaming gang of technology "creatives." For the most part I've given up on shoveling shit against the tide of these people, but this one was just too much to let go by.
Technorati Tags: photography, cc, a-list, usual gang of idiots