Icons are curious man-made things.

We attribute so much importance to idols such as this, and also to individuals who have risen in the public eye, sometimes for good reasons, other times less so.

Icons such as this speak to the best and the worst side of humanity. We acknowledge the achievements of others with these awards, but we also place undo adulation on fame as though it were some kind of mirroring effect, reflecting upon ourselves.

It’s not unlike the current buzzword… “branding”, where a average person strives to achieve fame through their individual brand, they are now called “influencers” of all things. This is contrary to the old days when brands were the purview of businesses, how times have changed.

Speaking of changing times, this image was shot on film with an 8×10 view camera in my then Los Angeles studio. The photograph took an entire day to set up and light. It was produced for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in Hollywood. I never knew if or how it was ever reproduced, but I came across it in a recent house cleaning of my archives.

The image is an old-school representation of exacting studio photography that appears to be a thing of the past, but seemed a fitting response for today‘s Daily Photo Game project.