Exploring the Hive ecosystem - NFT Showroom
Unless you've been living under a rock recently, then I am sure you will be aware of the current NFT craze sweeping the crypto world, and true to form, the HIVE blockchain has its own version
Users (artists) are able to create artworks using a variety of mediums (painting, digital, gif etc) and then 'mint' them on the blockchain as an NFT (Non-fungible Token). Non-fungible means that it's unique and can't be replaced with something else.
And looking at the numbers, its clear that I have once again been left behind... I had no idea how many people were actually taking part in this, and taking the opportunity to monetize their artwork. The website itself is well laid out and I quickly found the Market page to see what was available to buy
Having a browse through the market, I was struck by the huge amount of variety available... there is literally something for everyone. I did find an image I really liked, but I don't have enough swap.hive to buy it yet. I'm not gonna say what it is in case someone buys it out of spite lol. Instead I carried on looking to see what I could afford with my meagre funds...
Here we go my first 'piece of art': "Virtually Worthless(*) NFT" by @richardfyates.
I know that 'art' is subjective, but in my opinion it should have some effort put into its creation (a picture that is planned and thought out compared to a random scribble) and it should inspire a reaction. It doesn't matter whether that is amazement or disgust, it should invoke an emotional response. And with this piece I didn't just 'lol', I actually laughed out loud. It was the perfect choice for the first piece of my collection
That got me thinking... can I do this as well with my images?
It does say on one of their posts (I forget which one) that they aren't taking applications from photographs at the moment, obviously because they would get swamped with a million naff phone pictures, and no one wants that!
However, it also says that each application is considered on a 'case by case' process, and I'd like to think that these images are a bit more interesting than most? By my previous definition a lot of effort and planning has gone into creating these images, and I always gets lots of interested comments wherever I post them...
What do you think?:
Common Rough Woodlouse - Porcellio scaber
Gooden's Nomad Bee - Nomada goodeniana
Brimstone Butterfly - Gonepteryx rhamni
I do need to work on my titles haha!
For those who are curious these are taken from my Insect Portraits Project
Well there is only one way to find out, (and if you don't ask, you don't get...) so I have submitted the details and clicked apply. I don't know how long it takes to get 'whitelisted' and approved by @nftshowroom but hopefully I will find out in a few days, and who knows, may be YOU can actually buy some of my images...
Keep your fingers crossed! 😉🤞

If you have any thoughts or opinions on this article then I'd love to see your comments.
And if you really like the content then maybe you would like to upvote or re-hive it.
Check out my website for more of my work.

Hi @dannewton,
Thank you for participating in the #teamuk curated tag. We have upvoted your quality content.
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Get some Splinterlands NFT's, they have utility instead of just looking pretty. You won't regret it long term.
You are referring to buying the cards?... yep Splinterlands is next on the list...
...nowt wrong with having stuff that looks pretty though 😉
Yes.., good to hear it!
Glad my nonsense provided a laugh! That's always my primary goal! Meanwhile, your photos are fantastic! Serious quality, and they absolutely fall under what I would consider "Art." Did you know that NFT Showroom has a sister site (also running on Hive) that is built entirely for photography? Check out lensy.io and DEFINITELY submit an application there, as well!
Thanks for the mention, and good luck with the new NFT career!!!
Thanks for the kind words... and thanks for the heads up with that lensy.io site. Didn't have a clue that existed, I will certainly be applying there later on 🙂