Point of view

I'm always fascinated at what pictures get lots of hits on flickr. It seems the pictures I am neutral or dislike something about get more hits than the ones I like.

For instance, this picture:

Cool shoes, yes. Interesting? Sure. But to me, it's a rather plain picture. Looks just like a vacationer's candid snapshot. Within an hour of uploading, I had 30 or so hits and an email from someone in Germany (I think) asking where they could get a pair of these shoes. I was shocked.

Now, let's look at another picture:

I don't mean for this to sound conceited in any way, but I was blown away with this picture. And several days after uploading to flickr, it only has five views. What's up with that? I talked with my friend and fellow photographer Thomas about this, and he has had the same experience. He even sold one of his not-so-favorite pictures at a showing.

Anyway, it makes me second guess myself, which I don't like. I like messing with people and pictures. I like over-processing. The world around us is over-processed, so why can't my photos be, too?