Do I Believe P? Do I want X?

Philosophy Department Seminar Room. On the board as we came in for today's placement meeting.

White Board

Chris Kennedy's Events seminar is held in a refurbished language classroom that has floor-to-ceiling whiteboards on two of the four walls. Even though maybe half of the resulting whiteboard is useless, because it is either below your knees, or far above your head, the overall effect is pretty cool--it feels like knowledge is free to spill all over the classroom.

The Seminar

I took this picture in Josef's Semantics and Pragmatics seminar last February. I posted it to Flickr and forgot about it. A couple of weeks ago, I got a message from someone who was interested in using the picture. The message read:

"Dear Nat Hansen,

I was searching the Internet for photos, when I found your picture of five people breaking up after what looks like a serious discussion.

I am layouting a book about project collaboration within the Danish construction business. And the intensity of your photo is just what I am looking for regarding the chapter about consulting seminars. I am aware of the differences between philosophy and project collaboration, however you have captured a moment we can all recognize in my office.

I therefore ask for your permission to print a copy of the photo in my book. There is a commercial purpose with the book. But since I am juist part of a small, local based company, I hope for your approval.

My alternative is hiring a professional photographer for the exact same setup.

Best regards..."

I granted him permission, but now I kind of regret doing so. Why? Look at his last sentence: "My alternative is hiring a professional photographer for the exact same setup". That sounds like something Jeff Wall would do. I would have loved to have seen a recreation of the exact same setup.