I got my first hate mail!

[seakayaker1]

Thank them for the comments and move on.

If you give them your time, they have won since there goal is to chum the waters and keep you on the hook as long as they can. They don't call it trolling for nothing.

What other people think of us is none of our business. You know who you are and keep creating the work that you enjoy.

 

[MIkhail]

I had a few. Got one, yesterday actually. Thru the RF messenger, I know who that is. So what? Happens.

 

[randolph45]

nobody hates me

nobody hates me

SOB!
Nobody hates me🙁
Recognition is not in the cards for me.
Your so lucky.

 

[Addy101]

I've got a hater at the mo. They hate that I'm English and that I drive a car amongst others that is on UK number plates! I get abusive mail, typed and posted from the next town along, Den Haag. Sooner or later I'll find out who it is and thrash them to within an inch of their life with my F5!!!!! 🙂 Don't waste your time on people who are too cowardly to not put their names to their stupidity!

Hope you do pay roadtaxes in the Netherlands: Duch Tax service on the issue 😱
And no, I ain't the one stalking you..... Yet, as long as you pay your taxes I won't 😉

And Erik, congratulations, someone thought you were interesting enough to disagree with!

 

[michaelwj]

Congratulations! I checked out your blog, some nice work. I find it kind of subtly confrontational, and I want to see more. I like it. I could be a bit polarising though, especially to the measurebating community I think. How dare you use technical equipment to create art!
Michael

 

[tempest68]

To paraphrase Eric Kim, don't give too much credence to any critic unless you are familiar with their work.

 

[Aristophanes]

Just go out and buy a Nikon D800 and any Leica and a whole bunch of lenses to make yourself feel better.

 

[Pablito]

i like to think of these kinds of people as having tiny brains and little dicks...

huh? what if it was a female?

 

[raid]

Congratulations on getting noticed.

 

[enero]

Congrats, you obviously moved them enough for them to say something. They just couldn't put their feelings into the right words 🙂

 

[Al Patterson]

huh? what if it was a female?

More likely trolls are male, but yeah, assumptions may be way off the mark...

 

[colyn]

huh? what if it was a female?

Shemale?????????????

 

[f16sunshine]

Hey you know... sharing is caring! It might not be hate mail after all. Showing indifference is the best way to express hate.
This person obviously gave you the time of day so just the opposite! . 😀

Cheers!

 

[noisycheese]

i like to think of these kinds of people as having tiny brains and little dicks...

...and APS cameras. 😀

 

[Alpsman]

Anonymous mails, resp. mails without sender will be deleted without reading them.

 

[pvdhaar]

I don't normally get much activity on my blog, which suits me just fine. But today I got a comment - and hate mail at that!

Jeez, in your imagination you’re a “good photographer”. Your photos are godawful, boring, and you stink.

The stinky part may be a bit crass, but it's hardly hate mail.

In fact, comments like these are far more valuable than a load of sycophantic flattery. Take them as an incentive to objectively evaluate your work and step up the quality of your images, or at least of the selection process of what you upload to your blog. In all honesty, the images on your blog could benefit from putting more effort in them.

 

[gb hill]

Erik, ya know you can't please everyone. I know I certainly don't. Can't say I'd classify that as hate mail. They just don't like your work. The bad thing is they don't have the guts to tell you who they are.

 

[Bruno Gracia]

Erik, ya know you can't please everyone. I know I certainly don't. Can't say I'd classify that as hate mail. They just don't like your work. The bad thing is they don't have the guts to tell you who they are.

For example me, I can't see any interesting in your pictures. They are boring me and anyone could take the same photos with an iPhone or whatever.

 

[Turtle]

I had only one, when I had images here on RFF.

A gentleman took the trouble to send me quite a few PMs ranting about how unethical and patronising it was to shoot such documentary work in Afghanistan; work which, as it turns out, went on to win a number of international awards, has been seen by many thousands of people and which has given me the opportunity to share with people an alternate view of life in this difficult country. Its work I'm proud of an mattered to me a lot.

The guy clearly had preconceived ideas of what I was doing and why I was doing it. No amount of persuasion affected his view that I was some sort of vampire and should stop exploiting people immediately. Heaven knows what he thoughts of the wider documentary and photojournalism genres and can only assume he vented at me because I was here, so accessible.

 

[OurManInTangier]

Preconceived ideas are pretty much impossible to argue against and often held by people that will never be open to thinking differently no matter what new information is presented to them. Having seen your work in Afghanistan I can only imagine he is in the tiniest of minorities. I'm firmly with those that decided to award you (or the project if you prefer) the accolades. More power to you and those like you.