Will, I feel you as a friend, so I will speak to you more from my heart, than from my brains.
I simply don't get what is really annoying you so much, leading you and other members to propose measures of force, restriction, "discipline" or plain censorship. You have went so far as to use the word "pollution", refering to images, photographic images Will, PICTURES !
The feeling you transmit to me is that you have in front of your eyes a kind of coup de etat or conspiracy to take over RFF, and I frankly don't get it. So there has been lately an Olympus OM festival, but it was just that. What is causing such feelings leading you and other members to go so extreme ?
And from the depht of both my heart and mind, I cannot get why do you and supporters of the same views, feel so weak ? Who is preventing you and your alike thinkers in this case, from taking wise initiatives of opening threads attracting high broad attention ? you are not a man lacking ideas nor opinions.
Therefore if you feel RFF is sliding out of its healthy path, why not competing for the interest of the audience, instead of calling for measures of force ? I simply don't get it, believe me.
I happen to love my OMs, I am ready to sing them prize, but from a certain point in my life i couldn't stand anymore that mirror flap in my face and ears, and that's the end of the story. One day, if i travel overseas and go for postcard type of images, instead of street type, i will take my oms with their teles and will be happy to post the images here, in a separate sub-galllery if you want. But where is the desperation.?
If you read my previous post at this thread, you will hear me quite harsh, but from a totally different angle. If RFF starts to adopt measures of force to remain "pure" then we are becoming a religious sect, maintaining its identity by forcefull isolation.
What about maintaining our identity by open competition ? By example ? by gathering interest where interest is ? Why do you feel debacled in a struggle that hasn't even taken place ?
Since I joined RFF I have been shooting rf exclusively, i am your ally, not your enemy. And what if for some weeks some folks me included went to jocke and exaggerate our adulations for the oms ? Is this an earthquake ?
There are a lot of newcomers asking questions about RFs every day. Give them your heart, your attention, answer them with utmost patience, and you will be achieving our common goal in the most effective way. There is nothing more refreshing and live that being in contact with young people. And these young people flocking RFF are expecting it from you.
So what are we going to show them ? the police stick, or the years of photographic experience we have gathered and they want us to tell ?
Cheers,
Ruben
