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Please watch the video rather than just reading the article (there's much more material in the documentary). Actually, the video made me cry a little bit. Aft
by schoen 8y ago
Please watch the video rather than just reading the article (there's much more material in the documentary).
Actually, the video made me cry a little bit.
After watching the video, I found https://www.deepakg.com/the-canal-in-ikeas-amsterdam-photo https://www.deepakg.com/the-canal-in-ikeas-amsterdam-photo which gives the location and the name of the houseboat. (If you want to see it in Google Street View, a better search is probably Brouwersgracht 56.)
- rosege 8y agoI just tried the co-ordinates for the spot in the link you provided but its directs you to the IKEA store in AMS and not where the photo was taken. As I'm currently in Amsterdam I might go snap my own photo of it just for the hell of it.
- RyJones 8y agoThe video is quite good. It's interesting how many trivial decisions lined up to make an iconic photo
- krackers 8y agoI don't think the decision to make the bike red was as trivial as it seems. Even though the designer mentioned the bike could have been any color, there's a clear aesthetic precedent for red against black & white (see e.g. schindler's list) which also has a emotional component that I think pairs well with the supposed melancholy of the picture.
- schoen 8y agoThe documentary shows that there are several other posters in the same series, which all of have some kind of color against black and white. All of them are realistic in some way (for example, yellow taxicabs in New York and a red double-decker bus in London), but not all of them are red. https://www.google.com/search?&tbm=isch&q=ikea+vilshult https://www.google.com/search?&tbm=isch&q=ikea+vilshult
- mc32 8y agoIn photography circles selective color is up there with HDR in that it’s seen as a fun but amateurish venture which detracts from an original but while trying to make the original “pop” more. None the less, this was a trend in the 90s I think with greeting cards companies whose tropes were highlighted kids, roses/flowers, balloons, etc., against a gray backdrop.
- prepend 8y agoI think it’s funny that in this case amateurish is perfectly fine for the audience. Photography circles aren’t necessarily concerned with creating accessible art that hangs in people’s home and affects them every day. IKEA is. “Finally, I got in touch with the lead designer at IKEA who had picked the photo more than 10 years ago. I ask him why he picked the photo, and he told me that the first thing they design at IKEA is the price. This photo was just very, very cheap, and that’s why they picked it.”
- random878 8y agoThank you for highlighting that to us. I dismissed the article, but I'm very glad I went back and watched the video.
- benj111 8y agoI tried watching the video, my Dutch is a bit rusty. As a warning to others, there is a nsfw bit.
- specialist 8y agoI too thank you. That's such a well produced, well told, compelling story. As someone a bit older, I almost can't stand how awesome everything is today. Just one technique that popped out was the timing, animation of the captioning. Done before, sure, but this author's technique somehow adds to the story telling. What a time to be alive.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]