Hope Poster Creator Turns On Obama

Shepard Fairey, the creator of the iconic poster that came to represent the 2008 Obama campaign, has turned on the president, much to the delight of right wing sites.

A camera crew from TMZ asked Shepard Fairey if he’d use the same word underneath his portrait of then-Sen. Obama, given his track record as president. The 43-year-old Fairey paused for a moment as he and a companion got into a waiting vehicle. “I’d put a few different ones,” Shepard said, adding that some of them may not be fit for print. Then he turned back around to face the crew, thinking of an idea. “How about drones?” Fairey said.

TMZ's report is being gleefully mentioned on World Net Daily, etc.

Shepard Fairey Settles "Hope" Lawsuit

Shepard Fairey has settled his long-running dispute with the Associated Press over their photograph of Barack Obama, which Fairey turned into his now-iconic "Hope" poster.

In settling the civil lawsuit, “The A.P. and Mr. Fairey have agreed that neither side surrenders its view of the law,” The Associated Press said in a statement Wednesday. “Mr. Fairey has agreed that he will not use another A.P. photo in his work without obtaining a license from The A.P. The two sides have also agreed to work together going forward with the ‘Hope’ image and share the rights to make the posters and merchandise bearing the ‘Hope’ image and to collaborate on a series of images that Fairey will create based on A.P. photographs.” The statement added that the two sides had agreed to “financial terms that will remain confidential.”

Still ongoing is a separate copyright infringement lawsuit over the t-shirt company Fairey launched with the "Hope" image.

Do-It-Yourself Shepard Fairey

Mine didn't turn out too great, but you can make your own Shepard Fairey-ish Obama poster here.

UPDATE: JMG reader Billy did a much better job with my photo than I did, so I've swapped in his.

Inauguration Poster

Shepard Fairey On Rick Warren

Shepard Fairey, the creator of the Obama campaign's most iconic image also drew the cover of this week's TIME Magazine Person Of The Year issue. But Fairey has mixed feelings over the honor. From last Friday:

“Tomorrow my illustration for Time Magazine’s “Person of The Year” hits the newsstands. While I’m very honored to be validated by a periodical that is nothing short of an American institution, the moment is bittersweet because I’m very disappointed by Obama’s appointment of Rick Warren to deliver his invocation during Obama’s inaugural address. Rick Warren is against gay marriage and reproductive rights, and he does not believe in evolution (maybe he offers himself as proof of lack of evolution). I understand that Obama is trying to appeal to conservatives and evangelicals, but this move is symbolically a slap in the face to many people. Warren is not a uniter, but a divider… he is intolerant in many of his views.

"I still think Obama is the best choice for president, but I can’t condone Warren’s involvement in Obama’s inauguration, no matter how insignificant it is. While I’m on the subject of gay marriage, I will be donating a chunk of the proceeds from an inauguration poster of Obama I was asked to create to the movement to overturn Prop 8. At first I was considering pulling my inauguration poster, but I think re-directing funds from it to put into a cause I care about is actually more constructive. Plus, I wouldn’t want withdrawing the image to come across as a blanket boycott of Obama. I’m sure I will ultimately disagree with Obama about many things, but I think I will agree with him on more. I think it is important to speak one’s mind, but also to not let the narcissism of petty differences sabotage our unity and progress.”

I think our differences with Obama on Rick Warren are far, far more than "petty", but I'll agree with Fairey that we can probably expect to agree with Obama much less than we disagree. The question is, exactly how much will this particular disagreement impede the progress of the movement? Have we made the necessary noise and can now get back to the business of Obama's promises to us? I don't know. I think this pervasive sense of betrayal may linger.