Photograph of a potato bought by businessman for €1m https://t.co/FK4sYDy4jT
— The Independent (@Independent) January 25, 2016
Just when you thought potatoes were as glamorous as they could possibly be, someone brokered a $1.08 million deal for this portrait of a tater.
CNN reported that celebrity photographer, Kevin Abosch of Ireland, captured the now famous organic spud and sold it to a European businessman and friend over a few glasses of wine. He told The Sunday Times, “We had two glasses of wine and he said, ‘I really like that.’ Two more glasses of wine and he said, ‘I really want that.’”
Because the buyer remains anonymous, we suggest displaying seemingly unimportant photos of humble objects during all future dinner dates with businessmen. It sounds like this guy gets what he wants and you might get some of that sweet roots and tubers money.
Two more prints of the potato were made after the photo was taken back in 2010. One was donated to a museum in Serbia and the other hangs in Abosch’s home.
Abosch named the portrait, “Potato #345,” which obviously begs a few questions. Were there 344 potatoes before The Chosen One? It must be a pretty cutthroat business, with a lot of potatoes hitting the gym hard, perfectly placing dirt here and there before their audition. Poor guys. Also, do you think Abosch ate all of the rejected potatoes? Do you think he ate Potato #345? If not, where is it? Shouldn’t that be worth even more than a million dollars? Should Matt Damon/Mark Watney be involved in this somehow? They have a potato history….
The photographer says he chose a potato as the subject because, “I see commonalities between humans and potatoes that speak to our relationship as individuals within a collective space.” Which is kind of weird, because we were just thinking that same thing!
According to The Sunday Times, the potato was shot on a black background, under a single light, using a digital camera, the same way Abosch usually captures his famous subjects. “Potato #345” is now in the company of some very successful individuals including Steven Spielberg, Malala Yousafzai, and Johnny Depp and has a budding future (NO APOLOGIES FOR PUNS!).
We believe the term that best describes how you’re feeling right now is, “tot-envy.”
