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• 1 2020-05-04T20:14:32-07:00 Examining Hope: Background of an Iconic Image 1 plain 2020-05-04T20:14:32-07:00

  The Poster 

  In early 2008, after speaking with campaign strategist Yosi Sargent, graphic artist Shepard Fairey offered to create a poster of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. Fairey, seen below, created the poster most often captioned with "Hope."
  
  

  The poster was enormously popular and, according to LA Weekly, Fairey had printed and distributed at least 250,000 Hope and Progress posters by September 2008. Fairey also made the image file from the poster available for free download.
  
  By November 2008, as reported by the Guardian, an original screenprint of Hope, along with a second image of  Obama accompanied by the word "Progress", were sold at auction for $2,700 and $4,800 respectively. The poster drew comparisons to iconic works such as Jim Fitzpatrick's Che Guevara poster.

  Sergant immediately realized the power an iconic image by Fairey could have.
                                                                                                                              -LA Weekly

  In January 2009, the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery acquired an iteration of Hope created by Fairey. According to NBC News, Gallery officials declined to reveal how much they paid for the mixed-media stenciled collage titled Obama "HOPE" Portrait. Notably, the Gallery had broken with long-held tradition in purchasing the work in advance of Obama's inauguration as the Gallery typically acquires official portraits of presidents as they are leaving office.

  Speculation

  Beginning in 2008, there was growing speculation as to the image behind Hope. In a 2009 blog post, Inquirer photographer Tom Gralish declared the mystery solved: the image was taken in 2006 by Associated Press (AP) photographer Manny Garcia. Gralish incorporated a computer-generator analysis of Young's photo combined with Fairey's Hope. 
  
  
   In an analysis of the resulting court case, the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology details how the AP then contacted Fairey and demanded compensation for use of the photograph (Fairey's estimated revenue from Hope exceeded $1 million dollars). Fairey maintained that the photograph that served as a basis for Hope was a very similar, but distinct image, taken at the same event and volunteered to pay a customary licensing fee. The AP rejected the offer and Fairey retained legal counsel through Stanford's Fair Use Project. 

  He returned to Los Angeles, checked his files, and realized that the bloggers were right.
                                                                             -Harvard Journal of Law & Technology

  In February 2009, Fairey's legal representation an the AP both filed formal complaints, the latter accusing Fairey of violating Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Fairey initially paid little attention to the negotiations until he read a series of blogs that compared the photograph he though he had used for Hope with Manny Garcia's image. Fairey realized that he had, in fact, used Garcia's image and subsequently performed an "egregious error of judgement."
  
  Fairey destroyed evidence on his computer.

  Court and Sentencing

  The New York Times reported in 2011 that AP's lawsuit and Fairey's countersuit ended in a settlement following a 2010 admission by Fairey that he had "misstated which A.P. photo he had used" as the basis of Hope and that "he had submitted false images and deleted" other images in an effort to conceal his actions. This launched a separate criminal case. Though Fairey settled out of court with the AP in regards to the use of Garcia's photo, the LA Times detailed that, as a result of the criminal contempt case, Fairey was sentenced of two years' probation and a $25,000 fine.
  
  Today, the National Portrait Gallery credits Manny Garcia as a contributor to the Obama "HOPE" Portrait.
  
  
  
  
  
   

  Work Cited

  Booth, William. "Street Artist Fairey Gives Obama a Line of Cred." Washington Post. May 08, 2008. Accessed January 15, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20121110024732/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/style/features/2008/obama-poster-051808/graphic.html?sid=ST2008051602005.
  
  Fagan, Adam. Barack Obama "Hope" Poster. February 01, 2009. In Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/afagen/3249850438.
  
  Gralish, Tom. "MYSTERY SOLVED! The Obama Poster Photographer ID'd." Scene on the Road. January 21, 2009. Accessed January 15, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20090121174039/http://blogs.phillynews.com/inquirer/sceneonroad
  /2009/01/mystery_solved_the_obama_poste.html.
  
  Ng, David. "Shepard Fairey Sentenced to Probation, Fine in Obama 'Hope' Case." Los Angeles Times. September 08, 2012. Accessed January 15, 2019. http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/08/entertainment/la-et-cm-shepard-fairey-20120908.
  
  Rhodes, Steve. Hope - Obama (Shepard Fairey Poster). February 02, 2008. In Flickr. Accessed January 15, 2019. https://www.flickr.com/photos/ari/2238969281.