Rethinking Things

My Flickr Pro account is up for renewal and quite frankly, I am not pleased with where it is going. I seem to be interested in a totally different style of photography than the people who view my stuff. I was hoping my twisted way of seeing things would interest people, but what 'sells' (page views) are sex-related and Detroit.

Ah...Detroit. The city of my birth. And where I grew up. Well, sort of.

I know I'm in quite a spot, that I have an opportunity to photograph subject matter that others would love to document, the streets of a deeply wounded city. And I have the courage/stupidity to drive through areas I probably should avoid. I've been doing that since 1 January 2004. That's when I made my first serious plunge into the city. And what a shocking scene I found!

We want different things.

Flickr is not my first choice of places to show my work. I don't have a first choice. I've tried a few but they do not appeal. My first choice WAS DeviantArt. My type of crowd hung out there and I really enjoyed putting up new work, all kinds of new work, not just Detroit. Then I learned that DA sneaked in some fine print in the user agreement that they have the right to sell our work. That really doesn't lay right with me. I don't want my photos, as bad as they are, showing up on stock photo sites. I may not be a big shot artist, but I am what I am and my work is mine.

I still stop in at DA to see the work. A new tread there is the presence of viruses and other malware which a subscriber can have, free of charge! What's up with THAT?

Photonet. The almighty CRITIQUE! Screw that.

So here I am, feeling very discombobulated, not really having the audience (and community) for my work. It's not that I want to be adored for my strange photos, but that I want to be in a community of like beings. Early DA was SO MUCH FUN. It was like blazing a way in uncharted territory. Flickr is cold to my touch.

So...I'll probably renew my Flickr account just to have some social networking. And I'll still post photos, but I'm on the prowl for something new, something different. I have a few photo projects going on, things I don't waste my time exposing on Flickr. Why? Unless there is destruction in my shots, many do not bother to look. I will subscribe to a community-fueled zine called SHOTS. Subscribers get four issues a year plus they can submit a few photos of their own. That might open a few doors if a few of my photos are accepted. I also may erect my own site so I can show my work the way I want.

If anybody knows of some good opportunities for photo communities, offbeat places with fringe people, contact me through my Flickr account.