Disaster Girl

Disaster Girl is a widely shared photograph of a young girl staring into the camera while a house burns behind her.[1][2][3]

The picture, widely known as "Disaster Girl", shows a girl smiling at the camera while a building burns down in the background. The image has been frequently used as an internet meme.

The girl in the photo, Zoe Roth, was four years old when the photo was taken in 2005.[4] It was sold for $470,000 at auction on 29 April 2021.[5]

The Roth family lived near a fire station and as they watched a house being burned for training, Zoe's father took her picture as she smiled in a way that suggested she had started the fire and was happy about it. The photo became famous in 2008 when it won an Emotion Capture contest in JPG magazine.[6] Zoe had given permission to use the image in educational material, but the photo had been used hundreds of times for various purposes without the Roths having control. After receiving an email in February 2021 suggesting she sell the meme as an NFT for as much as "six figures", Roth decided to sell the original copy.[6] On April 17, 2021, Roth sold the photo, now an NFT, for the equivalent of US$486,716 to a collector identified only as @3FMusic.[7] This allowed the family control over the image's distribution[6] and retained them copyright[1] and 10 percent of proceeds when the NFT was sold.[6]

References
  1. Fazio, Marie (April 29, 2021). "The World Knows Her as 'Disaster Girl.' She Just Made $500,000 Off the Meme". The New York Times.
  2. Gartenberg, Chaim (April 29, 2021). "'Disaster Girl' has sold her popular meme as an NFT for $500,000". The Verge.
  3. Pritchard, Will. "They were ancient internet memes. Now NFTs are making them rich". Wired.
  4. Cost, Ben; Grace, Asia (2021-04-28). "'Disaster Girl' selling original photo behind viral meme for $473K". New York Post. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  5. "Zoë Roth sells 'Disaster Girl' meme as NFT for $500,000". BBC News.
  6. Ellis, Maddie (April 27, 2021). "After years as a meme, 'Disaster Girl' takes control of her image — with a hefty payoff". News & Observer. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  7. "'Disaster Girl,' now 21, cashes in on NFT of her meme". WRIC-TV. April 27, 2021. Retrieved April 28, 2021 – via Nexstar Media.


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