The common criticism with NFT art is that it's just a JPEG image. So why bother "owning" it when you can just right-click, save as? Who in their right mind would spend thousands, let alone hundreds of thousands on such a thing?

But as I've argued before, this is missing the bigger picture and missing what this new technology has the potential to empower. Take for example, the new Bored & Hungry restaurant that opened up in Long Beach, California this past weekend (with lines down the block).

It is being dubbed the world's first Bored Ape Yacht Club restaurant, and here's the backstory. Andy Nguyen is a successful food entrepreneur in southern California. And last month he spent US$267,000 on Bored Ape #6184 (yes, a JPEG).

After doing this, he took to Twitter and asked: "Worst decision I've ever made or best idea of all time?" Of course, he clearly had a new business idea in mind.

Fast forward to today and he now has a pop-up restaurant concept that is branded with his Bored Ape. And because the Bored Ape IP is very permissive, he is perfectly within his rights to do this. He can create whatever business he wants on the shoulders of his NFT, as can others with theirs.

His restaurant is also accepting the new ApeCoin that is part of this NFT community, and if you yourself have a Bored Ape, you qualify for perks like free food. All you have to do is scan your crypto wallet. Digital asset ownership = real-life something.

This to me is just one small example of the kind of new businesses that crypto and other digital assets might unlock. And I am sure that it's the tip of the iceberg.

I have enjoyed photography for as long as I can remember. But I got into it in earnest during undergrad while studying architecture. At that time, Toronto-based photographer Sam Javanrouh was in the early days of running his decade-long photoblog called daily dose of imagery. And I remember checking it religiously to see his captures of the city. This was a fairly novel medium for photos at the time. Instagram wouldn't arrive for another 7 or so years. So I found it deeply inspiring.

So much so that I went over to Henry's at the corner of Queen and Church, bought a refurbished Canon Rebel, and started capturing my own photos of Toronto -- often at night after school. I'm positive that I'd be embarrassed if I ever pulled out those old photos from the archives, but regardless, photography more or less stuck with me as a hobby. It also formed an integral part of the design portfolio that I used to get into graduate architecture school. (My photos proved to be less useful for business school.)

I later moved onto shooting with Fujifilm cameras (currently a Fujifilm X-T3). And nowadays I mostly shoot when I'm traveling and have some free time. But two decades after buying that refurbed Rebel, I can't help but feel like we are at yet another important turning point in the evolution of photography (and, of course, art more broadly). We now have tools and technologies that allow for the ownership of digital assets. (

The common criticism with NFT art is that it's just a JPEG image. So why bother "owning" it when you can just right-click, save as? Who in their right mind would spend thousands, let alone hundreds of thousands on such a thing?

But as I've argued before, this is missing the bigger picture and missing what this new technology has the potential to empower. Take for example, the new Bored & Hungry restaurant that opened up in Long Beach, California this past weekend (with lines down the block).

It is being dubbed the world's first Bored Ape Yacht Club restaurant, and here's the backstory. Andy Nguyen is a successful food entrepreneur in southern California. And last month he spent US$267,000 on Bored Ape #6184 (yes, a JPEG).

After doing this, he took to Twitter and asked: "Worst decision I've ever made or best idea of all time?" Of course, he clearly had a new business idea in mind.

Fast forward to today and he now has a pop-up restaurant concept that is branded with his Bored Ape. And because the Bored Ape IP is very permissive, he is perfectly within his rights to do this. He can create whatever business he wants on the shoulders of his NFT, as can others with theirs.

His restaurant is also accepting the new ApeCoin that is part of this NFT community, and if you yourself have a Bored Ape, you qualify for perks like free food. All you have to do is scan your crypto wallet. Digital asset ownership = real-life something.

This to me is just one small example of the kind of new businesses that crypto and other digital assets might unlock. And I am sure that it's the tip of the iceberg.

I have enjoyed photography for as long as I can remember. But I got into it in earnest during undergrad while studying architecture. At that time, Toronto-based photographer Sam Javanrouh was in the early days of running his decade-long photoblog called daily dose of imagery. And I remember checking it religiously to see his captures of the city. This was a fairly novel medium for photos at the time. Instagram wouldn't arrive for another 7 or so years. So I found it deeply inspiring.

So much so that I went over to Henry's at the corner of Queen and Church, bought a refurbished Canon Rebel, and started capturing my own photos of Toronto -- often at night after school. I'm positive that I'd be embarrassed if I ever pulled out those old photos from the archives, but regardless, photography more or less stuck with me as a hobby. It also formed an integral part of the design portfolio that I used to get into graduate architecture school. (My photos proved to be less useful for business school.)

I later moved onto shooting with Fujifilm cameras (currently a Fujifilm X-T3). And nowadays I mostly shoot when I'm traveling and have some free time. But two decades after buying that refurbed Rebel, I can't help but feel like we are at yet another important turning point in the evolution of photography (and, of course, art more broadly). We now have tools and technologies that allow for the ownership of digital assets. (