Bliss
2021 · 10m · USA
Directed by Zachary Loren Jones
Genres: documentary, essay film
Tones: contemplative, whimsical
A documentary-leaning rumination on Charles O'Rear, the photographer behind the Windows XP default wallpaper, and how a single licensed image quietly became one of the most-seen photographs in human history.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
An essay film about a hillside JPEG that more people have seen than the Mona Lisa? Yes, fine, you have my attention.
Zachary Loren Jones turns the Windows XP wallpaper into a meditation on impermanence — mixed-media essay film closer to Mark Cousins than Adam Curtis. A subject too good to mishandle, handled well.
A documentary-leaning rumination on Charles O'Rear and the Windows XP wallpaper, mixing animation, archival news, and street interviews instead of going straight talking-head — Jones is reaching for something genuinely playful about impermanence.
Reviews
The humble beginnings of the photograph used as the default background of Windows XP, one of the most seen images of all time, becomes a playful rumination on culture, aesthetics, and impermanence.