Monday, May 24, 2010

1 YEAR OF CLICKS, 86 Photos, and many more memories...

Happy 1 year anniversary to us!

I cannot believe it has already been a year since I snapped our first photos of people taking photos of my dog.

Born from simple curiosity and growing into ... well I'm not sure what

It has been a trip.
Each and every photo from #0001 - #0086...

But there are some post -- especially a lot of the PoPTPoMD FIRSTS -- that I will never forget like...:

The first multi-camera group experience (#0007-#0009),

The first time someone tried to pose with Homer (#0013),

The first accidental video as a result of the wrong camera setting (#0023),

The first time a husband directed his wife on how to shoot the photo (#0031),

The first time a movie scene was inadvertently reenacted with Homer playing a supporting role (Freeze Gopher - Carl Spackler),

The first time someone tried to conceal their camera from me after being caught in the act (#0038),

The first time a mother and daughter took photos outside, then went into another store, then came into the gallery, never said one word to me, sat down with Homer and took photos of him for a couple minutes and left (#0041 & #0041b)

The first time that someone took a photo with both a digital camera and her iPhone (#0074),

The first time someone saw me trying to take a photo of them and relocated to an area where they thought I had a blind spot (#0075)

The first time someone submitted the photo that they took to be published in the blog (#0078) Thanks Stephen!

Oh the memories.

Thanks for following or subscribing to the blog, fan-ing / liking us on Facebook, following us on TWITTER, and maybe even walking in the door at 360SEE or visiting our gallery website.

See you in year 2.

Best regards,
Homer & Jordan
*CLICK*

Saturday, May 22, 2010

#0086 - 05.22.10 - PHOTO SUBMISSION

This friendly group *clicked* a number of photos of Homer and waved hello...
...in addition to photos of Homer, they also took a photo of our "Beware of Blog" sign.
If you see this post and you *clicked* these photos please send them to us @PictsOfHomer@360SEEgallery.com
----
Georgi emailed us on 05.24.10 kindly submitting these photos along with a note:

Hello Homer and his owner,
We saw you on Saturday. Here's what we got! :D
Best,
Georgi
(Girl in pink dress)

Thanks Georgi for your submission on the 1st Anniversary of Photos of People Taking Photos of My Dog.

Not only did Georgi submit the photo of Homer but also the photo of the sign about the blog.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

F5 Russian Magazine - 05.10.10

Thank you Google Translate for your help but I think something was lost in translation...
...or someone stole all my Photos of People Taking Photos of My Dog money & fame.


View the entire magazine
by downloading the pdf of the May 10th issue of F5 online or pickup a copy at one of the many Moscow locations where F5 is sold.
----

What happened to the Sprite product placement?

-----------------
FULL TRANSLATION BELOW:
Based on the content I must have given another SKYPE interview to a different Russian Magazine about the internet.
(THANK YOU GARY!)


Title Page

"There's No Shortage of Characters"

A couple of years ago, Jordan Witkov opened a gallery in Chicago, bought a bulldog, and started a blog. It turned out to be a successful symbiosis: Jordan's Internet project "Photos of People Taking Photos of My Dog" helped make him rich and famous.


Main Page

Sidebar:

Interviewer: Adelaida Sigida Photographer: Brian Sorg

Jordan Witkov, 30, blogger, gallery owner. Born in Chicago. Received his BFA at age 22 from Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Managed several galleries in Chicago. Opened his own--360SEE--in 2008. Started his blog "Photos of People Taking Photos of My Dog" in 2009. Currently preparing a photo album based on his blog for publication.


Body of Article:

I knew Jordan Witkov from his blog, which consists entirely of photographs: a bulldog lies in a gallery's display window, passers-by take its picture. And at this same moment, gallery owner Jordan Witkov photographs the photographers. They look funny. Fat and skinny, white and yellow, they come up to the animal lying behind the glass with their cameras and cell phones, looking like they've never seen a dog before.

Jordan assures me that the bulldog's useful properties were revealed to him completely by accident.

"When I was little, our family had four dogs," Jordan tells me on Skype, "so it wasn't particularly surprising that my wife and I, one fine day, decided to go to the outskirts of Chicago to buy a puppy from a breeder. The fact that I was opening a gallery at that same time was just a coincidence."

There wasn't anyone at home to leave the dog with, and Jordan started bringing him to work.

"Little Homer paced back and forth for a long time, looking for the most comfortable spot, before finally ensconcing himself on the floor in front of the big window. And here began the strangest thing: people passing by started stopping and taking out cameras, most often just their cell phones. They would hang around Homer for half an hour, photographing him from different angles, until he would get fed up and simply walk off to the side. Then the idea for a new art project came to me: I decided to photograph the photographers and post the pictures on the Internet."

Jordan Witkov is 30. After finishing college, he worked as an art director, studied visual merchandising, and then he and his wife founded 360SEE, where he started selling fine art and design objects. (360SEE will be showing sneakers from Gabriel Dishaw until the end of May).


"So, do the people photographing your dog come inside to buy anything from you?"

"No, they usually don't come in. Or, for example, two girls came in yesterday, sat down on the floor, and started playing with Homer."


"And what did you say to them?"

"I didn't say anything. I hid in the corner and photographed them from there. They didn't see me."


"Aren't you afraid people will sue you for unauthorized picture-taking?"

"I always have an excuse: I didn't ask for your permission, but you didn't ask for my dog's permission, either. There's a link to the gallery on my blog. I've gotten more than one customer from that link."


"How do you spend your working day?"

"I'm at the gallery every day, including my days off. I lead conferences, watch the phone, surf the Internet. Sometimes I go out to meetings with artists, but more often, they come to me."

My conversation with Jordan was interrupted every five minutes. Homer just couldn't sit still. He was constantly jumping up and running out of the webcam's field of view, letting out a bloodcurdling bark. It seemed as if somewhere beyond the monitor's boundaries, he was trying to eat the gallery's visitors.

"What are you talking about? He's peaceable," a panting Jordan Witkov reassured me, dragging the indefatigable Homer back. "There's only one person he doesn't like: the mailman."

"So, that's the mailman coming by every five minutes?"

"No, it's workers. They're preparing the gallery for a new installation."

It turns out that Jordan Witkov recently came up with his next dog art project: he posted a request on the blog for passers-by to send him pictures of his dog. Jordan then distributed these pictures to photo artists, who put their own creative spin on them. An exhibition of these works will be mounted at the gallery soon. Profits from their sale will go to a fund to help animals.

Homer leapt from his place again and dashed off with a wild bark.

"He's mild-mannered, he's never bitten anyone. He really loves people. And they really love him. From the moment my blog appeared, I've had many requests to sell my dog."

"And you refused?"

"Of course! My standard reply is, "Everything in this gallery is for sale, except the dog." This animal has earned me more than a thousand dollars. And he's still working! Why would I sell him? And by the way, Homer doesn't just serve as advertising for the gallery--our bulldog breeder now has a waiting list for puppies."

At the end of last November, Homer put the fate of the blog in serious jeopardy: he suddenly decided not to be photographed anymore. "Homer has been avoiding windows for the past ten days," his distraught master reported on the site. Homer had decided to swap the window for a warm radiator. Then Jordan started giving weather forecasts: "We're expecting an unseasonably warm weekend. And there'll be lots of new pictures, I'm sure!" In the course of the year, Jordan posted about a hundred pictures.

"You know what the strangest part is? They don't just vanish, these characters passing by with their cameras. They reappear the next day, with their friends. And their friends bring their friends, and so on. What's in it for them? It's someone else's dog, the pictures aren't very good. They waste tons of time just to be able to show the pictures to their relatives that night after dinner. It's a mystery. But there's tons of new art projects to think up, based on that mystery."

Homer jumped up from his place again and dashed off to roar at someone.

"He's hunting for installers," chuckled Jordan. "Please don't think that I take this "art project" seriously. It's a joke. Just a joke. Although, on the other hand, the joke has turned out to be good P.R. I've often seen a person sitting or lying in a display window as a form of advertising. But a dog...that probably hasn't been done before. Although I couldn't swear to it. Well, that's it, so long, I'm off to the bank. But Homer will stay here, waiting by the window for his next photo session."

He left. And promised to return. To his blog, with new photos of amazed-looking people holding cell phone cameras.


Saturday, May 8, 2010

#0085 - 05.08.10

#0084 - 05.08.10

#0083 - 05.08.10 - PHOTO SUBMISSION


This iPho(ne)-tographer identified himself via email through the blog on 5.09.10. "This is me (Adam Singer - @AdamSinger) and my girlfriend: http://photosofpeopletakingphotosofmydog.blogspot.com/2010/05/0083-050810.html"

This is the first time that someone has submitted their photo of Homer to PoPTPoMD via their own blog.
See our correspondence and Adam's submitted photos taken with permission via his blog on 5.10.10.

----

photos courtesy of Adam Singer and thefuturebuzz.com
---
...glad you enjoy our m(art)-keting project.
PhotosofPeopleTakingPhotosofMyDog is to 360SEE as mustaches were to Dali

Thursday, May 6, 2010

#0081 - 05.04.10 - PHOTO SUBMISSION

Local, Bucktown, Chicago, national, and international interest is being peaked with Photos Of People Taking Photos of My Dog.

A feature on PoPTPoMD
is to be included in the upcoming issue of Russia's F5 Magazine.

After a 1hr Skype interview with a reporter and translator a couple weeks ago, F5 hired talented Chicago photographer Brian Sorg to come and capture the essence of me & Homer for the magazine's monthly Sprite sponsored "hero" section called "Our Man".

Of course I couldn't resist the opportunity to take photos of Brian taking photos of my dog (and me) ...and he kindly obliged.

ON THE DESK --- 360SEE PoPTPoMD © 2010

ON THE DESK --- Photo courtesy of Brian Sorg © 2010
-----


ON THE FLOOR --- 360SEE PoPTPoMD © 2010

ON THE FLOOR --- Photos courtesy of Brian Sorg © 2010
-----

OUT THE WINDOW --- 360SEE PoPTPoMD © 2010




OUT THE WINDOW --- Photos courtesy of Brian Sorg © 2010
-----
Stay tuned for information, links and images to PoPTPoMD in F5 and check out Brian Sorg's website and blog.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

#0080 - 05.01.10 - PHOTO SUBMISSION


This Homer photog was bashful about taking her photo as she saw the sign about the blog and me at the ready with my camera.
She took a photo anyway and even stopped in with her family.

We await your photo of Homer to add to your post. Email us @ PicturesOfHomer@360SEEgallery.com
----
The photographer, Maris, emailed us a nice note on 5.13.10 and was kind enough to include some of her photos.
Thanks Maris!

photos courtesy of Maris





#0079 - 05.01.10