Digital photography has had a positive impact on almost anyone involved in taking and making pictures.
 Digital photography has had a positive impact on almost anyone involved in taking and making pictures. In a visit to Australia several years ago image permanence guru Henry Wilhelm pointed out just how liberating it has been; a home with an A3 inkjet printer can achieve what only a professional colour lab was capable of in the silver halide era. But we live in a wacky, sometimes tacky world and as soon as it dawned on the more relentless entrepreneurs in the photo industry that you could now stick a photograph on virtually anything, they proceeded to do so. Want a cook’s apron with a photo of your favourite cut of meat on it? Yours for $24.95 in washable 100 percent polyester. How about a snow globe featuring last year’s trip to the snow? “Shake the globe and watch the glitter, snow or hearts swirl around your photo to give it a special fairytale effect.” Just $12.95 and totally child safe. What about a car window sunscreen featuring, say, a shot of someone’s bum? Be protected from the sun and watch people walk into telegraph poles at the same time. Yours for $24.95. Playing cards, cigarette cases, dog bowls, stubby holders, money boxes, footballs – the list goes on and on, once again proving that old adage that no-one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the public. Now, direct from the US we have “PhotoShowerCurtains”. The fabric shower curtains are printed using a dye-transfer process and www.photoshowercurtains.com says the image is permanent, and fade, crack, and peel resistant. “It is a great way to make your time in the bathroom more fun,” opined John Castleberry, president of PhotoShowerCurtain.com.  So if you feel you just aren’t getting your full quota of fun from visits to the bathroom, a PhotoShowerCurtain could be just the thing. “We’ve seen all sorts of curtain images,” he said. “A favourite vacation photo is a popular choice for homes.” And you can even pack a PhotoShowerCurtain in your bag when you are on vacation so that there’s no fall-off in the level of bathroom fun when away from home. Single orders placed at the website range from US$149-$199 with an extra US$39 shipping to Australia. Clearly a visionary, Casteleberry also runs a sister site, www.FotoBed.com that puts photos onto blankets, doona covers and pillows. (The rather disconcerting image top right is actually a pillow, rather than someone with their head on a pillow!) – Keith Shipton
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