>>3413644>>3413645This, the last photographer to become megafamous was Vivian Maier and she had to die completely alone and unloved in such a way that it made for an interesting Netflixable documentary.
The truth is, people don't care about your photos, they care about the meme level of the photographer himself, the story behind the photos and the mystique around it all. That's how things end up in galleries, some guy says "you've GOT to see this new homeless trans black photographer who took photos on disposable cameras to document her condition" over a joint outside a bar. See people who love Daido Moriyama these days, it's only partly his photos and more who he is as a person (nihilistic ex-junkie loner) driving that.
Unfortunately dying really amplifies that because people craft a narrative about you once you're gone and your work accumulates meaning and historical value as time goes on. So yeah, toil and make a lot of work in obscurity then die.
