DROID Video Recalls iPhone Photo
In January of 2007 during the iPhone launch, I was working on a gig for Apple with Daniel Steinberg at MacWorld in the Developer Pavilion. The official job I was shooting turned into this ADC Developer Pavilion mini site. We wrapped up our gig one day and on the way out, I noticed something interesting around the iPhone displays. I'd seen several photos of the iPhone in its case, but I hadn't seen any of the more interesting story: the people looking at the phone with interest, awe, and more than a little lust.
I was off the clock, and the show floor was about to close down, but I knew I had to make a few shots. So I pulled my camera back out, switched up lenses, and rolled off a few dozen shots of attendees scoping out the phone. This was one of those shots:
It turned out to be one of the most widely used photos I've ever taken. Unfortunately, it was used by all those places that don't pay, don't ask permission, don't give credit, and put their own watermark all over it after snagging it from Flickr. But that's neither here nor there. The photo got around and showed up in an incredible variety of places.
Fast forward almost three years. My friend Jason Hunter just pointed me off to this Verizon DROID Pretty video where they are trying to set themselves apart from the iPhone. Here's a screen grab from the first few seconds of the video where the announcer asks, "Shoud a phone be pretty?"
It's better produced in the way you'd expect a staged shot to be. After all, they weren't working with strangers on a show floor. The models are hipper and don't have conference name tags. And it has a blingy post-production background. But the similarities are obvious aren't they? Three people, two on the left side, one on the right. The three most dominant people in my photo are all males, but many people thought the second from the left was a female and, sure enough, the second from the left in the Verizon add is a female.
I'm kinda speechless right now and I'm not quite sure what to think of it. Whoa.
44 Comments
I can't tell whether you're upset or just blown over. You apparently created an iconic image!
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Glenn, blown over is what I'm feeling right now. Just pure, raw, "Whoa!". I knew the photo had gotten around, but man!
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I have to admit, - that ad is fantastic.
& Great photo James!
(I'd be curious to learn what you do about people/sites using your photographs unauthorised!)
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James, that's a good question. How misused images get handled, quite frankly, is a tough one. I've got so many images out there that get misused in a variety of ways. It's impossible to have one single strategy, so I use a variety of strategies depending on what the issue is.
Frankly, there are two situations of misuse that piss me off. The first is when credit isn't given for the use of many of the images were that's the only restriction. The second is when a commercial entity that has processes in place to deal with image use rights misuses an image. These two cases catch the most of my ire.
Duncan
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One thing they changed (I can't say if it was intentionally) is that the 3 people are looking down on the phone.
In your photo they are looking slightly upwards, which creates the notion of them being inspired (? not the right word, but i can't find a better one right now) by the sight of the phone.
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Sebastian, very true. The angle of view is quite different there, and obviously meant to portray a message. Very nice catch there.
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People say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so there you are. Great image (yours I mean).
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Jao, indeed. I'm not bent out of shape at all. It's simply very interesting to me how far the image has gone that it can get resurrected/remade in this way.
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TBH I'd rather look @ the girl in the Droid ad then shaggy, 4-eyes and "somebody's dad" in your shot ;)
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I haven't watched the video, but that still is nothing if not an "homage" to your original... and it's not as good. Yes, the production values might be better since it's staged, but the vitality of your photo, and its spontaneity, far outdoes that still. The people in the video still are looking because they've been told to (and I suspect they were shown your photo beforehand), whereas the people in your image are looking because they want to.
And maybe the word Sebastian was looking for is "rapt"?
:-)
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That's kind of a f'd up ad. Do you think Verizon realizes how incredibly sexist and tasteless that is?
Congrats on the homage, tho!
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Totally agree with Sebastian. Duncan's is a fantastic picture.
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I'd say that your shot is better - the Verizon ad has the people looking down, as Sebastian said, standing farther away, and also looking less in wonder and more somber. None of those things really say awe to me like the folks in your shot do. Plus, the way that light works in your photo almost has a heavenly look to it in a way that the dullness of the Verizon's light really just brings it down. Though, it's cool that they ripped your shot!
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The graffiti guy at around :18 is also very close to Banksy's Say it with Flowers:
http://images.google.com/images?q=banksy%20say%20it%20with%20flowers
Maybe I'm reaching.
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Oh, man... that is both curious and slightly irritating I am sure. But cool that you defined an iconic presentation of a product that has garnered so much attention.
More power to Duncan!
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Bryan, It's really more curious than irritating. And, as with a few other things that I've been lucky to have flow through my life, I'm amazed how the smallest of things can have a much larger impact that you'd ever expect.
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Like ant, huh? ;-)
I've had that happen to me (albeit on a much more modest level) several times. Now if I only *knew* beforehand which of my "little creations" will really take off...
Sri
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your picture is brilliant, love the glow on the faces.
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@ Sebastian Koch: If not "inspired" then joy, wonderment, or awestruck. And that was the first thought that came to me. They couldn't show hip people in awe of this fabulous product. Even the "hip people" are lifeless and certainly not happy looking.
@duncan: It's a terrific photo and a shame that people don't respect your original work. Verizon made a parody of the story your photo tells and that imitation is one of the highest forms of flattery. Congrats!
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Ever notice how other phones use special effects and animated characters to sell their phones? Apple just shows the phones and the apps & That's enough. If you have to rely on special effects to sell your phone, you haven't done your job.
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Well, the whole point of the ad is that the iPhone is all form and no function. The are saying the people staring in awe are vain, brainless fashionplates. Which I, ah, wouldn't say about random MacWorld attendees.
So no wonder the models are looking down on this (supposedly) empty but pretty device.
Verizon has gotten some traction with their attack on the iPhone, but this approach isn't working for me. They're basically saying, "We're a lot like the iPhone, only ugly and hard to use!" Don't think I'll buy stock in that approach.
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I love how the video compares the DROID to a SCUD missile.
If you want a phone comparable to a Cold War-era missile built by the Soviet Union, well, have at it.
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People have won infringement cases with less obvious homage-paying. ;-)
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Wow, that certainly is one beautiful boy in your photo. I thought it was a beautiful woman when I first saw it. The girl in the Droid ad is less attractive... but that's probably because the lighting is so bad in the Droid ad.
And maybe it's just me, but the people in your photo look a lot more "hip" than Droid's lifeless models.
Disclaimer: yes, I am a heterosexual male.
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I've always loved your shot Duncan. Be flattered. It's iconic.
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Richard, indeed, I am. :) I know I left it vague in my write up if I was happy or peeved. In reality, I wanted to just present it as honestly as I could. I was just whoa! :)
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I feel you sir. With the ever changing way that "news" and "media" related to the news is being distributed at an amazing rate. It is almost impossible to keep track of everything. It's almost necessary to watermark all photos heavily before posting. I respect what you do and hope this does not discourage you from continuing your progress. Keep it up!
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It's a great photo because it captured the mood that day. Expectations were really high for the iPhone for months before the introduction, yet Apple exceeded expectations and really knocked everybody out. People were amazed it was a real product with a ship date rather than a concept that was 5 years off and might never arrive.
The psychology of the Verizon ad is disturbing, though. Like an ex-boyfriend from 3 years ago stalking a happily married couple, calling her misogynistic names (just a pretty face), while at the same time putting down his current girlfriend as well (not pretty). If Verizon was a person there would be a restraining order already: do not go within 100 meters of iPhone, do not talk about iPhone, do not put videos of iPhone on the Internet.
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Be flattered man, congratulations!
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Your off-the-cuff capture has so much more soul and style than anything they'll ever do. And yes, there was true lust, awe, and amazement in those people's faces. The same will never be said for someone starring at a Droid.
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I didn't realize until I watched the video that the reproduction of your photo is supposed to symbolize the iPhone.
Nice job, I say. You captured it so well that they now used your photo as a stand-in for an actual iPhone! (Except their version doesn't at all have the awe and excitement; but I guess they wouldn't want to show that...).
- ask
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Congratulations, it's great to see how far your work as gone! Take heart that yours feels no where near canned like the Verizon imitation, will be remembered in a technological movement, and that those of us in the Art Director world knew right away where it came from:).
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Brady, it's good to know that there are AD's out there that recognize it. That's a nice thing to hear. :)
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your shot is a lot better. it's more painterly.
the other picture looks flatter, less dynamic, and has less of something akin to… divine inspiration .
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Iconic indeed!
So much so that your followers have travelled back through time to replicate it.
http://www.janeshouse.com/mw2000/DSC00005.JPG
I don't think they have executed quite so nicely. :-p
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Even the lucite cylinder displaying the phone looks cheap in the Droid version. -1
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You captured the awe in your photo ...
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Thing is, the capture in your shot is the warped guys in the background, not the three models. The Droid video has tried to add context by making the background interesting; your shot already has the entire photo as interesting because you had the incidental hints (two bald guys) that bring it all together. It's interesting that most people see three people when there are actually seven (or eight).
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Hey Duncan. Your post reminded me of a great talk I attended earlier this fall from Jeff Veen. He talks about imitation in design, specifically about the iPhone, and makes a pretty keen relation to the cargo cult story. Check it out here ( a quick 5 min watch): http://vimeo.com/7353260
In any case, your photo still sends me back to a pretty magical day.
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Josh, thanks for the link! It was a good presentation. Of course, Jeff Veen has always been great to listen to every time I've had the chance.
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Thanks to all of you for your kind words and thoughts! :)
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The guy on the left in your (superb) photo looks like MacTech publisher Neil Ticktin. Is it?
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I think the reason the verizon pic looks flat, is because the lighting is wrong and also there are no reflections in the glass. Your picture just seems much more real, I guess that is because it is. I suspect that the verizon "composition" is just a montage of seperate images shot on greenscreen, that have been laid out onto that stupid background. You can see this clearly in the youtube vid, as the 3 models pullout.
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Why the surprise? Don't you think we ad agency types read blogs? We all saw the iphone photo; makes sense to build on the marketing of the Droid as the 'iphone killer' by using same photo stance.
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