Ross Brown brings art out of advertisement

Could advertising be considered to be art? Who draws the line between what is commercial and what is artistic? When you’re a photographer like Ross Brown, then it is darn possible to erase that invisible boundary to create a piece of work that is artistically commercial.

I don’t understand the fascination some people have for the “underground” stuff. Some people only listen to bands that play at dive bars, appreciate the arts of some struggling painter who hosts a casual exhibition at the basement where he resides, and try to avoid at all costs to admire all that is “mainstream”. I think it is great to support the people who are struggling to have their works to be seen, but aren’t they really secretly hoping they could be the ones being exhibited at some fancy art gallery, or having their bands being featured on the cover of the “Rollingstone” magazine? The digital photographs featured here were used mainly for advertising, but they’re still incredibly artistic. The cool thing about advertising is that its main purpose is to sell an idea or a product. When nicely done one cannot help but want that particular product, or want to be like the person from the photographs. However, that doesn’t stop us from just appreciating the work on a different light.

Think about all the creativity that goes behind creating an advertising campaign, and all the responsibilities thrown on the shoulders of the photographers who are in charge to bring to life a particular concept. The fact that what we see on the final print is actually universally understood makes the final product a work of art on its own right. Ross Brown primarily focuses on Advertising and Designs, but he knows that in order to be successful in a world of plenty he must stand out with something extra.

Having been passionate about photography in his native New Zeland since the age of 13 when he decided to be a photographer, he believes that Advertising and Art work best when combined as one. He has won several awards, but mainly he is the only photographer to have won twice the Brian Brake Memorial Award for Photographic Excellence in NZ in 2003 and 2004. He is one of the top 200 advertising photographers around the globe, and one of his photographs is a part of the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris. Now, I am an art admirer, and if I see an advertising print that catches my attention more so than the common ones, I am most certainly going to consider it being a piece of art regardless of what the mainstream haters have to say.