Motivation Quote by Graeme Le Saux

Le Saux is talking about art the way an athlete talks about a decent away draw: with pride, immediate self-consciousness, and a quick glance at the table to make sure it wasnt a fluke. The line is quietly funny because the stakes are tiny (a pound over the frames value) while the emotional stakes are enormous. He wants validation, but he also wants it to look accidental.

The intent is modest on purpose. He is pleased that two "disparate" images could both land with buyers, which is really a claim about range: not a one-trick eye, not a gimmick. Yet he frames it as surprise that anyone cared, a familiar posture for public figures who step outside their lane. Athletes are allowed obsession, not delicacy; when they make something contemplative, they often preempt ridicule by underselling it. Le Saux does that here, using the frames as a decoy: laugh with me about how trivial this is so you dont laugh at me for trying.

The subtext is also about being seen differently. In sport, value is brutally market-set and instantly quantified. In photography, value is weird, social, and negotiated. "Relieved they weren't the last ones purchased" hints at fear of tokenism, of being the novelty buy before the room moves on. That extra pound becomes a symbolic profit: proof that the image, not the name, tipped the sale.