Memories for Sale? Or Inspiration?

One of the most popular photos of the 20th century (and one of my favorites), "Le Baiser de l'Hotel de Ville Paris," went on the auction block Monday in Paris. If you're not familiar with the photo by name, you will be when you see it.

Analysts expected it to sell for $19,000-$26,000 American. It went for $202,000!

The woman in this picture, Francoise Bornet, put her original copy up for sale. She admitted a few years back that the moment was not spontaneous, but staged after Robert Doisneau saw her and a fellow theater student kissing there. A few days later, they met to recreate the tableau for posterity. Bornet told a French magazine that the image was staged, but the kiss was one of the most real she has had to this day. I told this story to someone last night. His first response? "Buying that picture is buying someone's memories."

It's an interesting take, but I have to disagree. That memory, spontaneous or staged, has been part of the world's culture since it appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1950 or '51 (I don't recall which). This shared moment hangs in thousands of living rooms and bedrooms and dorm rooms courtesy of the poster industry. It has been reprinted hundreds of times on greeting cards and notepaper and hatboxes.

All this exposure has not watered down the impact of the image. On the contrary, I believe it has expanded its reach. How many people has this picture inspired? How many of our parents and/or grandparents have looked at this black and white and thought back to the days of their youth when things were simpler and the rules were easier? How many of our parents generation and our generation have looked to images like this and "Kissing the War Goodbye" and wanted that kind of passion for ourselves? The moment when our desire for another person obliterates all else that's going on around us and all that passes us by?

Therefore, I contend these images are not just memories, but inspiration. And only you can decide for yourself what price is too high when it comes to inspiration.