At the ripe old age of 19 I landed a job in a studio as a photo retoucher. I was completely unqualified for the job. But somehow they saw some potential and soon I was cranking out beautiful photos like clockwork. Unlike most other jobs that require you to sit at a computer all day, this job required me to sit at a computer all day and stare blankly at photos of complete strangers.
It was a little awkward at first...constantly staring at a face on your computer screen and trying not to feel like a complete creeper. Assessing every flaw on a person's face on a daily basis also jacks up your perception in real life. I often found myself staring at my friends in conversations and just wishing I could photoshop their faces in real life. I can't tell you how many thousands of faces I saw in my years at that job, but I can tell you that I only remember one: His name is Joseph Davitt.
This kid was special. This kid had it all together. This kid went beyond caring about his pictures and made them almost laughable.
Joseph's photos made such an impact on my life that I still keep one of them in my wallet to this day. No, I did not steal one of his photos from his mother. We had to print test prints quite often to calibrate the colors on our printers and I always chose his pictures for the job. Since we had so many I kept one for posterity.
Let me explain why I enjoyed his photos so much: He is a ginger. He is a ginger and he wore hawaiian shirts in almost every scene. His mother purchased a 24x30 print of JUST HIS FACE-- if you don't know, that's a huge print. We almost never sold prints that big because they're just massive. But she wanted that one. And she wanted just his face.
There was a certain scene which involved lots of doodles on a giant chalkboard wall. Within this wall of doodles there was a spot in which the student could write whatever they wanted. Most chose to write phrases along the lines of "Class of 2010!" or "Go My Favorite Sports Team!" but not Joseph. No...he was too good for that. He saw through the rouse and got right down to the heart of it.
What did he write?
"It is what it is."
He was brilliant. I will never forget that crazy ginger named Joseph Davitt. Yes I seem like a crazy person for keeping a picture of a teenager that I had never met. I really cannot express in words how his pictures made me feel...but isn't that what art is all about? This kid is practically the Andy Warhol of our generation.
#art
Side note: I just noticed that in the right hand corner it says "Fuel fart" Tee hee hee
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