75 Reasons to Live: Martin Venezky on Unknown artist’s Untitled [California Rancher/Cowboy in Front of a Backdrop]

Martin Venezky is a designer and the owner of Appetite Engineers. He's speaking here about an untitled tintype, taken in a portrait studio around 1870 by an unknown photographer, of a young man in cowboy attire: “I look at it more as a picture of aspiration than occupation.“Remember the end of Manhattan, when Woody Allen asks himself what makes life worth living? In January 2010, during SFMOMA's three-day 75th anniversary celebration, 75 people from the Bay Area creative community gave extremely short talks — 7.5 minutes or less! — on a single collection work of their choosing. Someone called it “manic splendor“ — and it was. You can view all of the talks on The Anniversary Show exhibition page. Or look for them here, on Open Space.