The picture that I captured is a view looking back on North Rodeo Drive. This street is located in LA and is the epicenter of all the “rich person businesses.” This street is lined with names like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and tons of other places that most people can only dream of shopping in. Walter Benjamin stated that “even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element: time and space” (3). This outlook hits the nail on the head because, as I said before, most people wish they could go there. By looking at this photograph I can imagine I’m in that sunny weather, palm trees waving, dropping thousands of dollars on new clothes, but the reality begs to differ. It’s winter time, and I’m still here in Vancouver. As enticing as the photo looks, it can’t do anything to transport me to a different time or a different place.
Another point that Walter Benjamin makes is that “the unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence. This includes…various changes in its ownership” (3). Even though I’m sure many of the stores on Rodeo Drive have changed owners, managers, and other employees through the years, it doesn’t change their reputation for offering quality (and expensive) personal effects. Part of the reason they do charge such high prices, though, is that they have been around for a long time and have built themselves a following. This could be classified as being “subject to history” in the sense that it validates the companies.