Etienne Lavie Replaces Obnoxious Ads With Art

Etienne Lavie reimagines ad-choked concrete jungles by digitally replacing obnoxious ad prints with classical art . The first series of photographs of his project ‘OMG, who stole my ads?’ took place in Paris and this time, Milano was the lucky city to receive a makeover. The French photographer’s observation of pushy consumerism has led him to ask himself what would happen if our surroundings were instead filled with images of being content. According to Lavie, “Each ad is selling not just a car, a phone, or a jewel, but a whole way of life based on possession and impatience. I asked myself: “what if all the ads in the world were coaxing us to be patient, passionate, satisfied with what we have, deeply curious, tolerant, and eager to forgive others? And it’s about more than the ads being detrimental; it became about asking myself what would happen if that advertising energy were redirected into addressing our need for satisfying values.” Personally, if we had to pick between seeing priceless art on a billboard versus another ad for the latest gadget, we would rather stare at the one that’s not trying to fish for our wallet.