Heysoos, Isaac, your reply #50 must run as one of the wimpiest I've come across on this site.
Okay, I visit no other sites of the 'chat' type anymore (apart from a private, little one), so perhaps I'm just out of tune with the zeitgeist, but even at the various schools I attended, where some of the kids were often expert beyond their years at torture of the mind, bullying took on an obvious and visible form. Your accusation seems, to me, to be founded on cloud, or on a concept of bullying so esoteric as to pass me completely by.
There are no rules here about any obligation to reply with faux critique to every image that finds itself hung out to dry in the public gaze, a gaze which can be as rapturous as totally indifferent. The very idea of an obligation makes the whole experience even less appealing than it might otherwise be. I come here and look at pictures, not to pull them to bits nor to stroke ego - either that of the snapper or of myself as either snapper or writer; I come here to enjoy what I see and, often, read. I've mentioned before that I think critique pointless, but that's just my opinion; however, wouldn't it then be a bit rich for me suddenly to start to tell someone else how they should do their own stuff? And that's all you can expect here - what else did you imagine - a leather couch and a tape recorder as an alternative offer of help? What's New, Pussycat did that rather well and became my favourite comedy of all time. I love that sense of hysteria; it soothes me.
Someone mentioned critique by peers; so who are the peers? Are they bright enough to carry respect? Do you want the blind to lead the blind, the deaf teach the dumb to sing? (I'd be happy to have anyone teach me to sing, but that's actually irrelevant, which is why I hide it in brackets.)
Why can't we just look at the pictures and stop trying to tell the world how bloody clever we think we are, how much smarter and gifted than the poor sap we have under the glass?
Rob C
