Lively Debate--Thank You All

[neils]

No matter what side of the debate in "Observations On Some Photos" you were on, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who participated in a lively discussion on censorship in photojournalism. I would also like to thank Jorge for his willingness to bring the issue to the members for discussion. He could of just as easily removed my images without notification and closed down all discussion on the issue.

Neil Schneider

 

[jan normandale]

Neil, this certainly got the 'corpuscles' running , even though I'm in Canada we all watched our friends to the south exercise true character of what the US is capable of , speaking out on both sides.

Jorge well done as moderator it was a 'sticky wicket' as the British sometimes say.

Now lets take some shots and put them up in the gallery while we are still energized.

jan

 

[cp_ste.croix]

It was nice to see a civil debate, and as the peripheral object of said debate, I admire your ability to remain unoffended.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I wholeheartedly respect Jorge's approach to it. In other forums, they would have been yanked, no questions asked, possibly a ban, and an incontrollable flame war.

I was very proud to see the restraint of most, if not virtually all members to talk about the photographs and the issue and not get derailed into personal bickering.

That said, it definitively is not 1968; for better or for worse. Most countries learned or evolved from that year, most certainly for the best.

Best regards Neil.

 

[ch1]

Baing new here, I probably should just keep my mouth shut. But being an obnoxious NY'er and cannot help myself!

Seems to me that you've lost a very fine contributor - Roman.

I do not know the gentleman but I certainly enjoyed his post the other day about his "star" pupil and how that "kid" HCB'd Roman and took a wonderful candid shot.

Now we will both miss Roman and, likely, never get to meet that "kid".

Over what?

A few pics of a political demo?

They're showing severed heads on Bali TV trying to ID bombing suspects and this site censored photos of people holding up hand drawn posters!

I know it's nice to try and heal wounds - but I think someone on this site needs to reach out to Roman in a much more heartfelt manner.

He was right.

 

[jlw]

He's made his choice. Let's respect it.

 

[DougK]

That's one of the nice things about this place... respect. You'll never find a true flame war here which has led some from photo.net to describe us as "bland." I like to think of it as proving we're all adults and civilized beings 🙂

 

[SolaresLarrave]

If respect, self-control, restraint, ability to remain calm, skills at dealing with touchy subjects and lots of tact, together with pride on the environment in this forum is seen as a sign of blandness... The world has too much spice! 🙂

I keep coming to this forum precisely because I know that, no matter the topic, the discussion will not wander into personal territories, and we all know what a bit of humor can do when it's sorely needed.

As for Roman... he made a choice. He'll be remembered like the good pal he is too! 🙂

 

[zeos 386sx]

I'll take bland...

 

[RJBender]

Baing new here, I probably should just keep my mouth shut. But being an obnoxious NY'er and cannot help myself!

Seems to me that you've lost a very fine contributor - Roman.

I do not know the gentleman but I certainly enjoyed his post the other day about his "star" pupil and how that "kid" HCB'd Roman and took a wonderful candid shot.

Now we will both miss Roman and, likely, never get to meet that "kid".

Over what?

A few pics of a political demo?

They're showing severed heads on Bali TV trying to ID bombing suspects and this site censored photos of people holding up hand drawn posters!

I know it's nice to try and heal wounds - but I think someone on this site needs to reach out to Roman in a much more heartfelt manner.

He was right.

That's Roman's friend Ronnie (Hoot) who has the 15 year student.
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11371&page=1&pp=20
I agree that Roman should not quit.

R.J.

 

[Stephanie Brim]

Yes...regardless of the sides, Jorge had the perfect attitude about the issue. This is what I like to see in a forum. 🙂

 

[rover]

Keep shooting Neil.

 

[Solinar]

My folder here on the RFF contains pics of a political protest. As a photographer my goal was to capture the tension of the moment. When I posted them over at PN in the Classic Camera Forum, I was most definitely flamed by the "O'Reilly Factor".

For some, if attempt to show the good, bad and the ugly, the latter two don't fit their image of photography. Very often it is the messenger who gets castigated.

 

[varjag]

I hear you Solinar. Happens to me all the damn time 🙂

 

[GeneW]

When I posted them over at PN in the Classic Camera Forum, I was most definitely flamed by the "O'Reilly Factor".

What is the "O'Reilly Factor"? Does it refer to some person?

Gene

 

[FrankS]

A huge thank you to Jorge for being big enough to allow a discussion on the topic of the removed photos. Perhaps if there is a next time that could happen as a first step: Hey guys, take a look at this/these photos, do you think they're appropriate here? Self-exercised restraint is easier to take than imposed censorsip.

We came through this process stronger and better, except for the loss of Roman, and any others who may have left quietly. His descision may seem rash to some, but it was obviously based on deeply held convictions. Had the final outcome been different, several more members would have left, again, due to deeply held convictions.

But again, thank you to Jorge for not being small-minded about this, for being able to take a step back, and allowing our collective wisdom to decide the issue of censorship here at RFF.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

I think the "O'Reilly Factor" refers to a right-wing news commentator in Fox News, who's known for his fiery rhetoric and firm stands for his ultraconservative beliefs. He has managed to irk a lot of people (especially liberals) and recently went through some legal problems stemming from his sexual harassment of one of his staffers.

At least that's the facts I know.

 

[Honu-Hugger]

No matter what side of the debate in "Observations On Some Photos" you were on, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who participated in a lively discussion on censorship in photojournalism. I would also like to thank Jorge for his willingness to bring the issue to the members for discussion. He could of just as easily removed my images without notification and closed down all discussion on the issue.

Neil Schneider

Neil,
Thank you for participating in one of the two most significant roles in the discussion 🙂. As others have mentioned you hung in there and did it with fine character; posting this note of thanks testifies further to your good nature. If I admit to being too lazy to Google Voltaire's exact quote I'm not sure what that says about my character (certainly nothing admirable), but it is something along the lines of "I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it..."

Jorge: thank you as well for once again handling a delicate situation with exceptional grace.

Joe: you weren't expecting a part in this, were you? The thread closed before I could thank you for interjecting a touch of humor to lighten things up a bit (I assume you were kidding?). With some PhotoShop work you may still be able to post some of the photos from your Bestiality project 😀.

 

[VinceC]

I was really impressed with how this whole discussion was handled.

A couple of weeks ago, a comparable discussion over a pnet got so out hand that religious slurs were being thrown around along with lewd manipulations of members' family photos. The moderator had to kill the thread, ban contributors and impose a strict censorship policy.

I am sorry about Roman's departure and hope he reconsiders. And I'm not sure it was necessary to lock the thread. It had gone on for more than 100 messages without getting ugly. That's a real testament to this group of people. In fact, I was so impressed that I went ahead and made a (very modest) donation to Jorge to help keep the site up and running.

 

[Todd.Hanz]

FWIW,

I hate when these topics come up in the forum, as we grow I'm sure they are inevitable. I come here for the photography discussions and to see great photography using rangefinder cameras, mostly. These type of discussions seem to always end in someone leaving or threatning to leave. I didn't learn anything different from this discussion than I did from past censorship discussions, the same members regurgitating the same opinions over and over (myself included).

It is refreshing to see the consideration that members here show to one another when compared to other sites with similar discussions, civility at it's finest.

The one thing that always seems to get lost is the fact that this place is merely a website, owned and operated by a very generous individual. RFF is not a country, it doesn't posess a bill of rights or constitution that garauntees freedom of speech. Jorge should be commended for considering our opinions and acting upon them.

Todd