Is this a new photography technique?

Photo by Lance Cpl. Claudia Palacios

Do you see the photo above?  Notice how one part of it is extremely sharp and the rest rather blurry?

Is that a new technique that's popular and I'm just not aware of it?  I'm seeing it more and more.

The reason why I ask is because my favorite photographers, Joe Copalman and David Cenciotti have both used (I've noticed) a kind of vertical technique in some of their photos.  I monitored some of the twitter and Flickr conversations and read that it was becoming popular because of print magazines.

I've haven't heard anything about the sharp and blurry.  Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks.