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  • Welcome to the new site. Here's a thread about the update where you can post your feedback, ask questions or spot those nasty bugs!

Why?

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Why is that folk just post and wait for someone to comment on their own picture. I see it all the time. We log in and sit on our own pictures waiting for replies. Pictures get so lonely and neglected like this old store in the first snows in south Carolina!

Please invest in giving feedback to other images that interest you. There are many new pictures that are so diverse and original that they must be worth more attention. Imagine we have pictures of an active volcano at night and kids in a street in Nicaragua. There are portraits from Setubal Portugal and castles from the U.K. and images from the narrow stone alleys of ancient Mea Shearim in Jerusalem. Add to the a Saudi woman climbing mountains………………. or Calla Lillies in the Rain…………. or sculptural colorful architecture in Munich transit and then graffiti on the walls, there's so much to stimulate us!

We have a bunch of most talented photographers here. So why do we not give others the attention we seek ourselves?

It's up to each of us!

We have the quality, if we just open our eyes.

Thanks so much for making the forum vibrant.

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Perhaps because photographers are not comfortable trying to talk about a purely visual art?

"... dancing about architecture"

Charles,

Thanks for bringing your mind to this. I don't understand the meaning of purely visual art. In an art gallery, is that purely visual? I guess not, since there's so much history and folklore about the art there. Still, I don't get your meaning.

Surely there's much more than the sights and composition. The solitude of a woman mediating in a darkened sauna in finland or of a grandmother from a most conservative state clubbing mountains in South America to raise money for breast cancer awareness are surely way beyond visual experiences for us!

I agree my humble sole calla lilly in the rain seems purely visual but isn't it also a metaphor for some of our own journeys where we need resilience?

Asher
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
One factor, that influences comments is the apparent ratio of looking to getting involved. At a quick perusal of Luminous Landscape, I found that responses to pictures represent about 1 in 10 to 15 or 20 of those who looking to see what's going on. We seem to follow about the same pattern.

With more traffic, there is not so much need for folk to actually comment on each others work as there will be posts from someone else. I feel that if I don't pay attention to the carefully done work I see, then why should anyone bother with my own pictures?

I would appreciate everyone's help in taking responsibility for the vibrancy OPF. Those active here are good photographers and deserve our consideration.

Asher
 

Paul Abbott

New member
I wholeheartedly agree with you, Asher. Before I post any of my work I will always look to see what is current in the category I post in and comment on what is there. I think that is the right etiquette to have.
The thing is, all what you have stated here is just like re-inventing the wheel, and it shouldn't have to be, people should know better.
With the lack of comments I think this forum is incredibly insipid and lacklustre, and is not a very healthy environment, as a result it can only do harm to the forum.
 

Chris Heilman

New member
This sort of behavior is pretty much the norm for internet fora. Folks want to use these 'places' as a gallery from which to solicit views and opinions. I have found that promoting an atmosphere of discussion about the picture is quite difficult. Perhaps it works best for controversial pictures. Usually any discussion centers around the gear, lighting used to make, and composition of the image.

...
I agree my humble sole calla lilly in the rain seems purely visual but isn't it also a metaphor for some of our own journeys where we need resilience?

I read through that thread, and did not find the philosophical track you speak about. Responsibility for the initial direction of any discussion lies with the original poster. If they are lucky, the discussion will take off from the intended direction, and go a different way. Again, this works best if the picture is an image of something that has social, political or other components that can help propel it into a place where folks will have differing opinions.

Im recent memory, I saw an image (on another site) of a very large woman, relaxing and eating junk food. The discussion went round and round, touching on privacy, health and beauty. I think it topped 100 follow on posts, not all of which were complementary to the photographer or the subject.
 
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