Two months salary

[Blinginator]

american artist lee gainer is based in washington, DC and creates images that question culturally accepted perceptions. her series ‘two months salary’ is focused on the engagement ring industry. through the series, gainer investigates the evolution of the engagement ring from luxury item to must-have item. she discovered the popular convention of spending two-months salary on a ring was originally invented by debeers in 1947. this purchasing habit continues today and became an interest of gainer’s. gainer calculated the
average US salaries for a number of occupations and found a selection of ring’s based on the two-month rule. she assembled these into a series of twenty prints each featuring nine rings and the occupation name.

http://www.leegainer.com/salary.html

 

[Skippy123]

Kind of fun

 

[Iowa Lizzy]

Hmm, that''s pretty interesting.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[somegirl932]

i really enjoyed looking through that.

 

[Elmorton]

I thought it was really neat....but I really didn't see any link or trend with the rings - it seemed like the artist could have done a lot more with the idea, like hand shots or interesting lighting - seemed like "cut and paste" from vendor sites.

Um...now that I've typed that, I realize that PS has ruined me. Our ring shots are just so much more creative!

ETA: Oh....I just read more carefully that apparently they WERE kinda vendor shots. She picked the rings based on price. Don't we have PSers do that all the time with a bridal canvas? This could be SUCH a cooler project if a compilation were done of real peoples' engagement rings based on occupation. Artists, are you out there? Listening?

 

[whitby_2773]

wow, blinginator - fascinating.

the only one i disagree with is ''mechanic'' - goodness knows my mechanic should be in a position to buy shared in debeers!

seriously tho - thanks for posting, blinginator. debeers may have come up with the ''2 month''s salary'' thing in 1947, but in australia, up until about 10 years ago, it was always one month''s salary. and then suddenly, it was double! i think there''s value in remembering that this really is a luxury item, and that we''re all lucky ladies to have whatever ring we have...so long as it comes with a husband who loves us!

happy Palm Sunday all

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 4/5/2009 11:04:55 PM
Author: Elmorton
I thought it was really neat....but I really didn't see any link or trend with the rings - it seemed like the artist could have done a lot more with the idea, like hand shots or interesting lighting - seemed like 'cut and paste' from vendor sites.

Um...now that I've typed that, I realize that PS has ruined me. Our ring shots are just so much more creative!

ETA: Oh....I just read more carefully that apparently they WERE kinda vendor shots. She picked the rings based on price. Don't we have PSers do that all the time with a bridal canvas? This could be SUCH a cooler project if a compilation were done of real peoples' engagement rings based on occupation. Artists, are you out there? Listening?

I agree, I think it stopped one or two steps short..
But I'm guessing maybe if she took real life photos it wouldn't demonstrate her theory quite aswell, as there will be
a bunch that didn't follow the 2mth rule, or saved more, or used credit or whatevs..
But I do think real life rings would've been more interesting..


..or maybe it's just my crazy lust for pics talking, he he !

 

[Imdanny]

Oh, I want to be the A list actor!

 

[FrekeChild]

Fascinating!!!!!!

 

[tyty333]

The diamond industry wants consumers to spend 2 months salary on a ring. What do you think the reality is?

When I got engaged, I would have said 2 months worth is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on a ring.
(I like to think of myself as a sensible girl

) However, after finding PS ( PS you are so bad for me) I''m
thinking "Oh the things I could have done with 2 months worth"!

 

[MMT]

How interesting!!

 

[diamondringlover]

Interesting, it took me 20 years of marriage to afford 2 months worth (net not gross pay lol) as a new ring, my first ering cost $120 bucks lol

 

[ckrickett]

that was really fun to go through.
But I agree with above statements, would have been even better to have seen real peoples erings

 

[Miscka]

very interesting!

 

[Italiahaircolor]

Very interesting...I wish they had used real life examples of this and not ''cut and paste'' like some of the other ladies have pointed out.