Andy Warhol photos inspire Pomona College Museum exhibit

Pomona College Museum of Art is hosting an exhibit called "Famous for 15," that combines old Andy Warhol photos with modern cell phone pictures.

Student curator Carrie Dedon came up with the idea after she was given boxes containing many of Warhol's photographs and told to incorporate them into an exhibit. The Andy Warhol Foundation Photographic Legacy Project had donated 158 photographs to the museum. Dedon says they include "both Polaroid photos that are primarily portraits and the black and white society photoraphs that he took out and about in the 'It scenes' of New York."

There were some pictures of famous celebrities, like singer Debbie Harry (aka Blondie) and Arnold Schwarzenegger. There are also shots of non-famous people hamming it up for the camera.

Dedon saw a modern day parallel to Warhol's work in the camera phone.

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“I think that he definitely went at it with a similar mentality that we have today," said Dedon. "He loved being in social circles and that kind of thing, but he was very well known for being kind of socially awkward and uncomfortable in big groups. So he personally used his camera as kind of a screen between himself and social interaction." Dedon adds that he loved photographing famous people but he also liked taking pictures of them doing unfamous things.

Dedon encourages people to submit their own camera photos and named the exhibit "Famous for 15," after Warhol's famous quote that "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes."

The exhibit includes a slideshow of almost 100 cell phone pictures that people have submitted, including photos of friends and even one of President Obama.

The exhibit runs through April 11.