In case you're wondering it was made by George Etheredge. It was used in an NYT article about the artist Chuck Close.

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Edit

Haha, the mystery is solved.

pp_mcqueennone's comment showed me the the way the "photoshop" was made. The photographer took a close-up photo of a mosaic artwork in a NYC subway: archive.today • Art Underground: A First Look at the Second Avenue Subway - The New York Times.

Ninja edit: Haha x2. He didn't even do that much. I checked the photo credit and I learned he took the original subway photo. All he did to make the eye was crop that.

  • inshallah2 [none/use name]
    ·
    3 years ago

    I asked at reddit help sub too. Such subs can be the worst. So far - I've gotten no replies. My hunch is if I get a reply - it'll be a redditor help sub reply guy who says...

    Obviously it's mosaic.

    I can reply with...

    Did he do it manually, or did he meticulously adjust the results over the course of days?

      • inshallah2 [none/use name]
        ·
        3 years ago

        That's the smart thing to do. I always feel the need to reply even though it's pointless. Anyway - I've got a reply ready to go that's not "Thanks a fucking lot, buddy" and getting a reply by a mod that's a one week "temp" ban.

        • emizeko [they/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          the trick for me has been to disable inbox replies when I'm done with someone so you never read the dumbass response