Rick Waldroup
Well-known
I joined this forum in 2004 and thought to myself "Now here is something unique!" A forum about rangefinder cameras and the people who use them. When I first joined, it seemed as though we could discuss any number of things as long as we did it in a civil manner. For about the past year or so, that has seemed to change. There has become less tolerance for some who voice a different opinion or some who are a little offbeat. As a result, some fine members have left the forum. And that is a shame.
There have been several threads the last couple of days about the demise of Frank G on this forum. Some are glad to see him go and others are not and there are probably some who could care less. I remember last year when Roger Hicks joined the forum. That was great news as Roger is a well known and very respected photography writer. It wasn't long though before Roger was posting his last post, in effect saying that he had apparently ruffled some feathers and would no longer be posting. That was a real loss for the fourm. But once again, some were glad to see him go, others were not, and some could care less.
There have been others to leave this fine forum. Desmo comes to mind and I feel that others will be leaving soon or be banned. And the people who could care less about who comes and goes are the ones that worry me. They will not care until perhaps it is them that is feeling slighted or unwanted. Then they will speak up, but by then, there may be no one left who will care.
The mods have now resorted to threats of bans,deleting threads, simply locking threads, not because they have become offensive, but because they have become tiresome to the moderators. Photography is an all-encomposing art. It reaches across boundaries and involves people of all walks of life. It brings together people of all races and origins- it truly is a universal language, much like music . Photography invites discussion, invites debate, invites people to use their minds and open their souls. It may be the most unique visual medium in the world. To stifle the creative juices that flow from this fountain is wrong.
When you ask someone what got them into photography, almost as one they will say that it was an outlet to create, to free their minds, to make them think. There is more to this wonderful medium than just gearhead talk. I have found most photographers to be very bright and creative people and it is very hard to control those types of people. Would we have it any other way? All I am asking for is a little restraint from the forum members and the mods. I hope that we can continue to discuss topics not completely related to photography in a civil manner and I hope the mods have enough common sense to let the members speak their mind. If not, this forum will turn into a boring, sterile, and bland website that will be populated by only a few, the ones who complain to the mods anytime a topic vears off the beaten path, the ones who complain anytime someone makes a remark they don't agree with, in short they will be the only ones left on the forum and suddenly, to their surprise, they might discover they may have been in the minority all along.
There have been several threads the last couple of days about the demise of Frank G on this forum. Some are glad to see him go and others are not and there are probably some who could care less. I remember last year when Roger Hicks joined the forum. That was great news as Roger is a well known and very respected photography writer. It wasn't long though before Roger was posting his last post, in effect saying that he had apparently ruffled some feathers and would no longer be posting. That was a real loss for the fourm. But once again, some were glad to see him go, others were not, and some could care less.
There have been others to leave this fine forum. Desmo comes to mind and I feel that others will be leaving soon or be banned. And the people who could care less about who comes and goes are the ones that worry me. They will not care until perhaps it is them that is feeling slighted or unwanted. Then they will speak up, but by then, there may be no one left who will care.
The mods have now resorted to threats of bans,deleting threads, simply locking threads, not because they have become offensive, but because they have become tiresome to the moderators. Photography is an all-encomposing art. It reaches across boundaries and involves people of all walks of life. It brings together people of all races and origins- it truly is a universal language, much like music . Photography invites discussion, invites debate, invites people to use their minds and open their souls. It may be the most unique visual medium in the world. To stifle the creative juices that flow from this fountain is wrong.
When you ask someone what got them into photography, almost as one they will say that it was an outlet to create, to free their minds, to make them think. There is more to this wonderful medium than just gearhead talk. I have found most photographers to be very bright and creative people and it is very hard to control those types of people. Would we have it any other way? All I am asking for is a little restraint from the forum members and the mods. I hope that we can continue to discuss topics not completely related to photography in a civil manner and I hope the mods have enough common sense to let the members speak their mind. If not, this forum will turn into a boring, sterile, and bland website that will be populated by only a few, the ones who complain to the mods anytime a topic vears off the beaten path, the ones who complain anytime someone makes a remark they don't agree with, in short they will be the only ones left on the forum and suddenly, to their surprise, they might discover they may have been in the minority all along.
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