Given the rise of websites like Reddit, Stumbleupon, and yes, Google+ this story from Gizmodo bears consideration. The premise:
Flickr user André Rabelo saw when he uploaded this b&w photo to a Flickr pool called DeleteMe!, which votes on whether a photo has any right being amongst the top classes of photography.
However, the joke was on the people commenting on "Rabelo's" photo. The photo was actually one by Henri Cartier-Bresson. Yes, the Henri "father of modern photojournalism" Cartier-Bresson. But the plot thickens:
Over 500 comments have been added to Rabelo’s uploaded photo, and it makes for a hilarious yet thought-provoking read flipping through the pages. The first batch of comments from the DeleteMe! group some 68 months ago look rather foolish in hindsight, but not as foolish (in my eyes) as the bandwagon-jumpers who latched onto the prank once it was revealed, calling it “art” and a “masterpiece.”
This is kind of a case of "Schrödinger's Photograph" - is something quality based on its observable merits? Or should the overall work transcend its constituent parts? Who decides what is "Art" or merely "art?" What about learning?
Given the rise of the aforementioned socially curated news and web content this story could be an outlier. While I love using Google+ and want schools to have the option of adding it to the Google Apps for Education suite, I have to take Rabelo's photo as an admonition.
As an educator, the danger is to be a commenter of either extreme. Yes, there are many that want web 2.0 tools used in education, but when the discussion spirals out of the black & white which side should we be on? The one of process and learning Learning.
photo © 2009 Ariston Collander | more info (via: Wylio)
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