Cooter return? Somehow, I don't think so, but fervently hope I'm wrong again on this one. Of course, he could always just write, but the photographs were a delight in themselves, and I will miss them on LuLa, but his website is always there, so not everything is lost.
You have to look at it from the perspective of a top pro: comments on a worldwide forum that cast doubts on your work can do no good, and are possibly quite dangerous too, if they fall into certain hands. For us retired guys and probably for most amateurs, it simply has no impact beyond ruffled feathers, which can smooth down in time.
In the instances my own 'departures' I felt them coming over periods of time; there was nothing written about my images that pissed me off (I simply think folks who don't like 'em just don't get 'em, which covers all my bases), it was just the sense that I was often communicating with a bunch of pretty dumb minds, and that there wasn't much point in my doing so.
With time, I realised that by leaving I was also distancing from my life people with whom communication is a pleasure, so back I came until the next time. Yes, one did communicate off-line, but there is also benefit and pleasure in a more public form of communication and interaction.
But having said that, it's from the point of view of someone with nothing to lose. I'd have hated to feel my clients might pick up on some spiteful shit written without much thought... Retirement brings some benefit, if not many!
Rob
