Scene from Paris Photo 2009

This is a beautiful thing:

At Paris Photo 2009 this year, photographer Fabien Breuvart decided to make things a little more interesting. Enlisting the help of numerous friends, Breuvart dumped trash bags filled with thousands of vintage photographs into a giant heap at the entrance of the fair, offering them to the fair’s visitors for free.

… It became quite a chaotic scene, and an interesting dichotomy. Priceless photographs versus photographs with no price. Strolling and quiet viewing versus crawling and hoarding.

Breuvart’s fun and smart “prank” is a great tweak; a reminder of the democracy of photography and that an endless bevy of compelling images exists beyond the curated gates of art fairs, galleries, and museums.

(via PetaPixel, via lensculture)