I’ve been spending a lot of time on Craigslist lately. After a noble year spent living with my grandmother, I’m looking for an apartment to rent. In Brooklyn. One that’s safe, clean, and, ideally, in a neighborhood with Arts! and Culture!
Over the course of my search, I’ve spent a lot of time looking into these apartments through the lens of Craigslist, and I’ve begun to think of the photography on the site as an unlikely art form. Let’s take The Bathroom Photograph. Some bathroom photography, when taken from the vantage point of a photographer’s eyes or waist, shows entirely too little.
And occasionally, it’s done so well, it makes you want to unload your shampoos and move in.
It all got me thinking. What’s the key to good apartment photography on Craigslist? I decided to consult an expert, so I called up a professional Craigslist Photographer, a man named Clipisto Perez. I asked Clipisto what his trick is for taking that perfect bathroom shot.
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Photo by Clipisto Perez, Craigslist Photographer
Photo by Clipisto Perez, Craigslist Photographer
To see more samples of his work, you can visit Clipisto’s new flickr page.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:19 am
Man, who would’ve thought that someone has made a career out of “craiglist photography.” What a great little story!
July 31st, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Moi am an NYC expatriate living in what Law & Order loves to call “Upstate”; I follow real estate news of the city as a hobby. The New York Times real estate section recently called apartment sales/renting photography a totally dishonest art form, due to the trick shots that exaggerate square footage and overstate luster and light. But art has to be inherently honest or it isn’t art, it’s just advertising!!! Kudos to bathroom shots that realistically show cramped quarters, the toilet right between the sink and bathtub (eewww! unsanitary?), ingrained dirt, or anything else that makes you want to say “Bathroom badly needs updating.”
July 31st, 2008 at 4:57 pm
As someone who’s in the process of putting his apartment on craigslist, I found this post immensely helpful.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I feel like the “strategy” for 99% of Craigslist photos is a wide angle lens and possibly warmer color balance. So that everything appears both huge and comfortable at the same time.
I’d be more interested in an apartment that challenged conceptions of bathroom photography through their ad, but I guess I’m in the minority.
August 1st, 2008 at 12:05 pm
In reading your list of nice, affordable, but
not-so-cultural neighborhoods, I noticed that you didn’t include my
adopted home, Bay Ridge. As someone who tried living in Park Slope for
a year and now has the credit card debt to prove it, I heartily
recommend Bay Ridge — it’s affordable, super clean, super nice, and
not SUPER far from the world at large. Plus, it’s by the water, has
wonderful restaurants, and has wonderful views of the Verazzano
Bridge, Staten Island, and New York Harbor. Geez, don’t you think Bay
Ridge should hire me for their PR?
In any event, good luck in your search!
August 1st, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Thanks for the advice, Niko! When I was looking at a place in Sunset Park, the landlord took me aside and whispered about the virtues of Bay Ridge, only a bus ride away. Apparently his favorite restaurant is a place called Sanchos? If only good Spanish food came with a side of indie cinema and outdoor concerts…