Are these Gallery images OK?

Donald,
Of course you're right; guns will appear.
And, raw nerves were touched.
Do you remember that shot by Robert Capa of the soldier falling the
instant he was shot?

Here's some ancient wisdom from the shtetl or small towns of
Eastern Europe:
Two men with a dispute went to the local rebbe [rabbi]. The rabbi
thought it over and said to one, "You're right." And then, to the other,
"You're right."

As you've observed, it has run its course. The best we can hope for
is freedom of expression, tempered by good taste. And, if there are
disturbing images that do not break the rules... there's a choice.
Just, don't look at them.
Ciao, mike
 
the end...

the end...

i'm glad we are ending on a rather "enlightened" note. this thread was equally upsetting to me. in fact my nerves were "touched". if indeed the photograph's in question were "deleted" or somehow "sanctioned" that would have been the end of my tenure at rff. censorship is a truly ugly beast. far more disconcerting than the photograph's in question in my humble opinion.
one could certainly have put forth their distaste of said work, however that was not the case. i understood a definative "remove offending material" undercurrent. which i find distasteful myself.

http://www.ncac.org/home.cfm
 
The subject material of a photograph has importance for me if there is a message being conveyed. There was really no message being conveyed in those gallery pics and they were described by the poster as just fun shots ... on that basis I can't see the point in having them there ... but that's his choice I guess. The guns didn't bother me to be honest ... the photos just seem insignificant to me!

Years ago I went to a Robert Maplethorpe exhibition and had seen enough of his work to take the shock value away, that some people obviously experienced as they viewed his photographs for the first time. I think that was about fifteen years ago and that exhibiton is still with me clearly today ... as if I had just seen it. I still think about it often and marvel at the man's photographic skills in combination with such controversial subject material ... whatever the entry ticket price was ... and I don't remember ... it was worth every cent! Judging by the amount of Australian cities and states that banned that exhibition ... it was obviously not for everyone! 🙂
 
Then we get yelled.....

Mike can delete it if he likes, though he has decided not to. Not posting to it will effectively lock it.
 
I think everone's done a good job at staying calm and discussing this issue like grown-ups.

Big Picture: One of the purposes of art is to stimulate thought and debate, both on a personal level and at the societal level. Not all art needs to be, or even should be, pretty pictures.

Small picture: This is RFF, a privately owned web space with rules we must follow. If we don't like the rules, we can discuss them and perhaps modify them, but this web space is not the society/culture we live in. It would be much more important to fight for freedoms in the real world.

just my $0.02
 
Thank you to all who have meaningfully contributed to this thread. You know who you are.

A special thanks to Mike Goldberg, Jon Claremont, and FrankS for showing strength of character.


Please, keep this thread available.


Respectfully,
Sherman
 
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