After selling out his first NFT collection, which included an Elizabeth Holmes piece that sold for 5 ETH or $21,000, “Abort, Retry, Fail?” continues the theme of technology founders. His latest NFT collection features artworks based on his unique portraits of Uber founder Travis Kalanick, Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin, and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. These source portraits were captured during his decade photographing tech luminaries for different magazines. This collection illuminates the current era of technology and pushes the envelope by transforming still photography into compelling animated images.
“What I love about the NFT world is that anything goes,” Ethan mused. “It frees artists from being dependent on the gallery system. Instead of hoping for some crumbs from that world, we can go around the gatekeepers and get our work in front of people directly. It’s democratizing. Which means the market gets to see far more voices, styles and ideas than it would have otherwise.”
As with Ethan’s first drop, these new artworks are not simply defining portraits of the subjects, but capturing a unique era in history, when technology is changing how we interact in the world.
This drop will consist of six NFTs:
- Travis Kalanick, Co-founder and former CEO of Uber:
- Facerator x Travis Kalanick — A Random combination of 400 separate segments of Travis Kalanick portraits into new faces that morph continuously.
- Go Travis Go — A visual language inspired by vintage Speed Racer illustrations that depicts Kalanick as a freewheeling racecar driver, joyfully indifferent to whatever wreckage he might cause.
- Vitalik Buterin, Co-creator of Ethereum:
- Blockchain Angel — A must-see graphic with cameos from a balloon, a duck and a UFO
- Portrait of Vitalik Buterin, 2018 — A still photograph of Vitalik Buterin from one of the only professional portrait shoots of him in existence.
- Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet:
- You Are the Product — A graphic hinting at the danger of our surveillance time online (and that Pichai might be a robot).
- In the Cloud — A quirky graphic of Pichai in the clouds, bringing some rare humor to the NFT world.
Since the meaning of photographs changes with time and context, the source portraits for Ethan’s NFTs represent something dramatically different than when they were first taken. He shot Kalanick as a hero for the cover of Forbes — not long before a very public downfall. Pichai here symbolizes Google, which, despite its colorful logo and original “don’t be evil” ethos, is viewed by many as a too-powerful aggregator and exploiter of data, tracking our online activity at all times. Vitalik, photographed when most of the world was just starting to learn about crypto, of course is now a legend in the blockchain sphere.
“Ethan Pines has a long history of photographing the titans of technology, and he’s elevated those portraits into unique, collectible pieces that can only be found on our platform,” Craig Palmer, CEO of MakersPlace. “Hosting his latest collection on MakersPlace will enable art, photography, and tech enthusiasts to purchase NFTs that capture likenesses of people who have created and changed industries, and whose influence has changed the world.”
About MakersPlace
MakersPlace is the premier NFT marketplace for digital art. Launched in 2018, MakersPlace utilizes blockchain technology to facilitate the sale of authentic, original digital artwork, ensuring rarity and ownership for both creators and collectors. MakersPlace has emphasized accessibility since its inception and has attracted a large mainstream audience as the first NFT marketplace to accept both cryptocurrency (ETH) and non-cryptocurrency (USD) payments, which it facilitates through crypto wallet and credit card transactions, respectively. MakersPlace helped catapult digital art and NFTs onto the global stage, with the historic sale of Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days for $69.3 million in partnership with Christie’s auction house in March 2021 – the record price for any digital artwork. Our mission is simple: to enable a vibrant future for digital creativity. Please visit: https://makersplace.com/
About Ethan Pines
An award-winning commercial, editorial and fine-art photographer, Ethan Pines has created some of the most iconic portraits of our time. Highlights of his 20-year career include photographing Elon Musk, Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Instagram founder Kevin Systrom, Uber founder Travis Kalanick, Shaquille O’Neal, Jackie Chan, Kesha, and countless other celebrities and tech luminaries. His work has spanned ad campaigns for Dolby, Genentech, SolarCity, Universal Studios and others; regular editorial projects for Forbes, Wired, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal; numerous group exhibitions; and a solo show at New Theme gallery in Los Angeles. He’s been honored by the Communication Arts Photo Annual, the Graphis Photography Annual, the American Photography Annual and the International Photography Awards.
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