A few years ago, while roaming the streets of my neighborhood in West Hollywood, California with my friend, Laine, in tow, we popped into what had been pitched as one of the most hip night spots to hit the area. The owners lived in both New York and LA and were attempting to bring a fresh, urban vibe to our somewhat gay ghetto by introducing us to their version of "hip" with a nightclub called East/West. The second I walked through the bedazzled doors and past the pumped up security guard, I fell in love. Hanging on a wall in the far corner was a blown up, oversized, framed photo of a vintage Winnebago motorhome. East/West was officially my favorite place until months later, after working up the courage to ask the owner how much the print was, the bitchy New Yorker snapped, "it's not for sale." That bitchy New Yorker quickly became my best friend a few months later when I wandered in with a celebrity pal (God, I hate LA sometimes..). I again asked how much the print was (apparently he'd forgotten I inquired about it a few months prior) this time, while pouring me a complementary cocktail in the VIP lounge, he said he could maybe, possibly, to the right (celebrity friend) let it go for $10,000. I giggled to myself thinking,
wow, you could actually own one of those Winnebago's in the photo for far less than the photo! While I studied art history in college and can appreciate just about anything creative hands have touched, I wasn't born yesterday and know when I'm being taken for a ride.
TAKE THIS RIDE INSTEAD!
Today anyone can act like a pro with the help of a cool APP and walmart! Available in the iTunes store and Google + mart, "Snapseed" is a free APP for smartphones that will take a photo and manipulate it with the tap of a finger. The two examples above are "drama" and "retrolux." Then I upload the photo to my walmart photo account (www.walmart.com/photo) and in an hour I can pick up this cool image mounted to a canvas in 11x14 for $24 (faux canvases look like canvas but are half the price). Sure, a photo is worth a thousand words, but it isn't always worth a thousand dollars!
