finally….springtime…i do not know about you, but for me spring just does not come quite quick enough….spring brings hope and promise and well, just warmer weather is just fine with me….and spring is just the time to clean house….throw out all the junk one accumulates over the winter…both physical and psychological ….time for us to begin anew….this spring brings challenges for all of us….with the lovely green of spring , this year brings us to face a world where we might all just have to do with less….
wherever i go now photographers are flat out scared…fearful of the future….businesses are closing down everywhere…magazine circulations have dropped leaving little money for assignments, galleries are not selling as before, advertising agencies no longer have big budgets for photography, and newspapers are cutting their photo staffs drastically, if not going out of business entirely….i do not know one single professional photographer who is not affected by our global financial crises….
at the very same time i see amazing work being done…one way or another, the best will thrive in the long run….photographers and agencies who can move with stealth will move forward…those with too much overhead will have to do serious “spring cleaning” in order to survive….this is our new reality…
as i start now to look through the 1,029 entries that came in for the Emerging Photographer Fund grant, i am so so impressed with the high standard of work being done by so many….a truly staggering tour de force of worthy work was submitted to me here on BURN…..to choose only one seems right off the top somehow unfair, since i would so love to help so many more…..i am not the chooser, and i am pleased to not be the chooser of the recipient for this grant because i would be very hard pressed to make a decision among so many worthy photographers…i will do all i can to at least give those who do not receive this funding at least as much opportunity as i can give them with some solid exposure here on our forum in the coming months…
do i see a solid future for these emerging photographers as we go through these difficult times?? of course i do…hard times befall almost every generation…and harder times than these to be sure….now is just the time to share…band together…for mutual benefit and creative growth….and we must all throw away what we do not need which is historically what led the citizens of Valencia, Spain (above) to create the spring Fallas…
so many photographers and so few resources to finance them as professionals will lead many to search for other sources of income….however, the true visionaries will do just fine….and it has always been so…..
how do you see it?? bad times, or just time to clean house???
son of fly – can you not see what is wrong with your last sentence?
we can all take care of ourselves.. what is with your mission here? forget haik, what is your program? point? desire?
there is a cruel little circle going on here and you know who looses? have a guess..
JIM
ultimately we all respect your opinion and regardless of what flavour photography we practice there must always be room for learning.. since coming here my mind has been opened by many and that has happened far more through the comments section than by the simple act of enjoying photographs.. most recently your perspective was looked forward to.
.
Fly, you’re self-destructing fast. btw, you missed the point, actually for the second time, as the first time the point was raised as a question to you, but you suddenly flew away.
my point is, if there’s a better way to organise this chaos ‘in it’s entirety’, not just moderating members that you have a personal issue with, if there is a better design, then show us.
i was hopeful that you might provide this as you mentioned you came from this brave new world, now i realise you were just bluffing.
i remember you mentioning career suicide if you participated on Burn, i remember thinking what an absurd possibility, the irony is that you have managed to prove that was a real possibility with your own future interests.
funny that.
joe – you on skype later mate?
skypename – bophoto
Mr. Fly
Yeah the word felcher sucks, so to speak. ick.
And if you’re going to be a fly, you are going to draw shit, not actual shit because really, who would bother? You really take yourself too seriously, btw.
CIVILIAN
Sometimes those bearing gifts have to stand a long time outside the door waiting for their knock to be answered. Sometimes the person you want to give the gift to is temporarily or permanently illdisposed to receive it. It’s not you, its them. Maybe they haven’t received too many gifts in their life and have no idea how to accept one with grace and dignity. Sometimes it’s because they gave a lot of gifts that were thrown down in the dirt and they’ve turned inward. Sometimes its because they’re naturally reserved and reticent when strangers come knocking and they need to take some time to get used to the idea. Sometimes it’s because they think they have everything already and don’t see what they lack. The wise man knocks, waits and then, because there are more gifts and more needy souls, they leave their gift by the door and depart with a smile.
Just be you, always and forever. Your gift of love brightens all our days and makes us all better people. Sometimes it just takes a little time to realize that. Thank God for your patience.
I am so sorry you lost such a wonderful woman when your grandmother passed away. Surely you inherited her deep capacity for joy and her ability to get the most out of life. That’s why she lived to a;,ost 100! May you benefit from that same longevity gene.
JIM:
I am ambivalent about your return. You stimulate conversation and seriously the comments under the essays have not been nearly as thrilling since you left. You are often hub that the responses revolve around but since your take is often negative and imperious that tends to drive the discussion. You are an unquestionable leader but you do not lead charitably or generously as David does. You lead like a king who is seldom pleased, refuses to see other points of view or concede any ground in a discussion so i don’t know..so far, what i have read here, you have only returned to dish out more of the same and even more negative than ever. i am not thrilled to see you. Forgive me. I wish it was different. I would urge you to think that over but i fear you have selective hearing.
IAN:
No problem! :)))))))
ALL
Some of the posts above almost made me cry with their deep sincerity and rich references and magery. Others made me want to shout HOORAY or just quietly nod in agreement. Some made me hang my head and sigh. But you’re all firing on all cylinders and it was a genuine thrill to read what has transpired overnight.
Best to all
Kat~
Civilian, I know I’m supposed to be “coming home” to DAH’s loft right now but I just read your post and it made me feel so sad. How could I ever have called your postings “tedious”? What a cruel and thoughtless thing to say. I do hope you’ve forgiven me for bringing you pain. I was so focused on the cruel barbs being thrown back and forth on that other thread that I didn’t even realize I was doing the same myself. Mea culpa.
Love you, sweet man…
Patricia
you know – insults can be fun.
beate and i play the insults game.. like..
´you see that piece of half eaten cake over there?´
´why yes.. i am aware of it..´
´that´s your best sunday broach, that is´
(people from the u.k. who are over 35 will know where we stole the game from.=)
OK TO KATHLEEN FONSECA
TO THE ONE and only ONE green-eyed KATIE,
I will Scream HOORAY and I WISH I WISH I can write likeDAH,like Bobb,like Sidney, like Tom, like Joe, like Haik, like Panos,like Patricia,like Davidb, Like Wendy, like Carrie,Like My Gracie…LIKE F^&#k like Marcin,like Herve,like Reimar…SPACECOWBOY…
YOU ARE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MANYYYYYYYYY,yes, you are so freaking many, thank you …
So I can express what is really in my mind !!
Yes, I know, mierda, sweet mierda in my brain…
Kat you will come to your Greek home (only positive energy)
As for my grandma , I will definitely make it to 100… because I will wait for you and you and you ,I will wait for all of you till you get your handmade Keys ( no kids labor )!!
LOVE YOU ALL
P.S PATRICIA it takes a courage to say what you said. YOUR SUITE is ready !!
Fly,
I had no intentions to threaten you. I do apologize if I made you feel that. It really surprised me that humor with an “if” clause can go as far as this. All I want is a conversation. I hope you can accept it. Let’s go to the “Coming Home” and hug now :).
Cheers
Dearest Haik,
Oime, oime,
I was waiting for you to wake up. Thank you that you cleared MR. Harvey’s home because as he said before,
he loves fresh air !!Well, you sound like a real sincere person and it is a real compliment as MY GRACIE
wrote today !
Can I ask something?? Is poop the same as crap? and what is BTW stands for? Can someone enlighten me?
Only serious answers accepted . I mean,ok, I might sound stupid ( not our “stupid”)but you have to understand the language barriers… For example, today I had no clue what Davidb is saying to Akaky…
Not a Clue ( see coming home …thread)
Anyways, HAIK send me some flowers instead cause I have diarrhea ,no need for extra poop, kaka, skata,mierda.
WHAT a beautiful day !!! Fed-ex anyone :))) JUST A JOKEEEEEEEEEEEE
CIVILIAN …
BTW is just a short form for “by the way”, as IMO is for “in my opinion” or IMHO for “in my honest opinion”, or ASAP for “as soon as possible” …
:-))
Hope you feel better soon …
Clarification (seriously):
poop=crap=BM=shit
BTW means “by the way”
And David B’s post to Akaky? He’ll have to translate that for you, dear Civilian. I only know American English ;=)
xxxooo (kisses & hugs)
Patricia
THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH PATRICIA !!!
But I know now my fate , everyone will laugh at me…
Sorry Mr.Harvey , I am trying hard to keep up with all the English American intellectuals !!!
All this time I was thinking that BTW means between ( ouaou )
i just have been Gobsmucked…
MY apologies
THE best from my Civilian heart (XOXIXO)
oh I just saw your posting LASSAL,
ST. LASSAL,
THANK you LASSAL
I am all day working between Greek papers and BURN
BURN IS THE PLACE TO BE
LOVE AND ZZZZ
Kathleen, I’m under no obligation to lead charitably or generously. I’m not a leader. Nor am I interested in lovefests or cat fights. I just think that deviantArt already has quirky and outrageous covered, so Burn doesn’t need to do that again. But, it’s David’s sandbox.
BYOS
Bring your own shovel
Jim Powers, I love you :)
Jim
Not everyone is a huge fan of all the work here. But not everyone has the guts or the ability to express that. It´s pretty tough actually to fly in the face of Burn public opinion. But it doesn´t faze you and that´s why your input is so valuable. Because it comes from a really honest place. I can´t tell you how often i wished you were here just to call a spade and spade. I would think, ¨I can´t believe i´m the only one who feels this way. What would Jim say about this?¨ Which doesn´t excuse the rest of us who are too chicken shit to say what we really think. That´s why you are a natural leader, like it or not. No you aren´t under a responsibility to lead charitably or generously. But you can´t help being a big influence here and a valuable one as well so leading by example if not by overt acceptance of the role would seem to have the potential of taking this site in a positive direction. You can be a voice for change but for heaven´s sake, please recognize that and open your heart and mind a little. Well, i don´t expect you to agree, but i had to say it. See? I´m learning! heh..
best to you Mr. Powerful Powers
kat-
Civilian
a suite? whoa..with my very own geraniums on the windowsill? And maybe a goat tied up outside? hmm..buck you if you tell me no goat. i want my feta fresh. And i want you in the suite next door. And i want Patricia in the suite on the other side of me because i think she and i could just talk all night long. I´m gonna share with Sidney? yo..now that´s some good company. Gracie should have her own suite. She´s a poet. She needs quiet time with her muse so that she can dispense her pearls to the rest of us over breakfast. Maybe she can share with Akaky. Now wouldn´t that be an interesting combo? Imagine ?!? Not Bob because he would need an entire suite to himself to spread all his stuff around. So yeah, Sidney..yeah, that works for me.
Civilian..you might be dyslexic but as are many dyslexics, you are an absolute geniuses. How do you know things? how indeed? Inner wisdom and acute perceptive abilities. Who was it who said here that we should think about what we say because the right thing or the wrong thing could just make the difference between taking the elevator from the 22nd floor or using free-fall gravity? Which is why i am eternally grateful to you and Gracie. You kept me from a metaphorical 22nd floor plunge. I will never forget your generosity of spirit when i needed it most. Both of you. And i know there are others who have also been comforted and inspired by you both at a vulnerable moment.
Ok, well back to work..anbd it´s real work, not photo work. aaargh..
love ya Civilian and Gracie and all (and Jim, look the other way if you don´t like the love fest that goes on in Civilian´s house–better still, why not accept his key and warm up to your stay here? Just an idea, but a good one i think)
best
kat
Kathleen…
:)))))))))
That’s all I have to say to you !
JIM…
sorry if i have dragged you in to either a love fest or a cat fight….perhaps i will someday find a middle ground that suits you….now, i just cannot believe that you are quite like the character you portray here on this forum….it just does not make sense that you would dislike almost everything about Burn and yet be sidled up to the bar here so often and asking for yet another bourbon on the rocks and then complaining about the bartender….do not worry…no tip expected….
cheers, david
…for Jim….
“the piano is ahh drinking.. Not me…”
Tom Waits
…. Or in a classic Osama/Saddham/Fly way…
I’m here to save you from yourselves…
I’m bringing civility, I’m bringing RULES..
I’m bringing justice, I’m bringing intellectuality…
I’m an Arian … Follow me…
G’tefakatahere…
:)))))
David – i always love your witty replies. and will have another drink please (on the house?) xo
Kat, I’ve got my jammies on & am ready for an all-night talkfest. Hey, girl, we’ll do it somewhere sometime.
hugs
Patricia
Patri´(that´s short for Patricia in Spanish),
i will take you up on that for sure! there´s a lot of things you´ve been saying that has me nodding in agreement..just so´s you know..
hey, cute Mickey Mouse PJ´s, btw
(Civilian, PJ´s is short for jammies is short for pijamas is short for zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz)
;))
g´night, ALL! Got a very cool photo assignment tomorrow…hope it all goes well. It´s a dream job!
g´night Panos you big brat, you!
kat-
KaATIE,
My street fighter, “WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND”
Plain Greek : good energy brings good energy, or something like that.
Some people might need more time to come around and don’t get me wrong…That’s not our point…
We only want “real” Burnians.
If tomorrow Civilian starts to write like Bobbyb
if Our Patricia starts to write like Panos
if Akaky starts to write like Marcin
if DAH starts to write like Spacecowboy
If My Gracie starts to write like Gordon
If Katie starts to write like Davidb
if the above can be true ,THEN YES MR.JIM is right : CLOSE this place down .
BUT until THEN let’s Celebrate life and PHOTOGRAFIA and always be true to yourselves.
Don’t forget to laugh and kiss and hug and eat olive oil and drink ( with moderation):)))
P.S Katie all the UNIVERSE is with you with your family .Your project will flourish!!!
Panos, I wish I have your sense of Humor. I try hard though can you see me.
Pat thank you for your link. I saw your faces …No comment yet…Love !
Good energy to all
TODAY TODAY
I WISH ,I WISH , I WISH I am MY GRACIE.
SPACECOWBOY…are you single ? No need to reply…Anton are u single?
My Gracie take notes…too many singles so little time…and I am out of time !!!
I will be back…
hmmm.
where the heck is your space civi?
is it here? or there?
David, I’m exactly what I appear to be, no different in the 3D world than the virtual one.
Really, you might want to consider preventing posts from this kind of thread from appearing in the “Recent Comments” column. The focus should really be on the work and not on the nonsense here.
Kathleen, I’ve stop posting under the photos and essays because I don’t have anything useful to say. Much of what is presented here is too edgy for me. The edges of the frame have always been a point of tension in a photograph, and the “edges” of photography itself even more so. We understand that life extends beyond the edges of a photograph. I’m not sure I’m interested in what extends beyond the edges of photography itself.
Welcome back Jim. I agree that some comments are veering away from photography: I don’t mind, personally, as long as they are entertaining but sometimes they bounce back and forth for too long.
Best wishes,
Mike.
Dear Panos,
I think I have started enjoying the subtle ‘method’ in your apparent ‘madness’! :) The barely-perceptible way you compared Fly with Osama/Saddam is a masterstroke no doubt! But imo there was no need for that “G’tefakatahere…” – I think he is already out and there is really no need to overkill! Or is there?
Enjoy…
bodo
Jim, what I don’t understand is your ongoing complaints about a thread on which you continue to comment yourself. Seems reasonable to me that if you considered this dialogue “nonsense,” you would avoid posting on or reading it.
There seems to be something attractive about what you call “David’s sandbox” that keeps bringing you back to play in it. And you are as welcome as any of us. You are an honest man who says it like you see it. I just wish you could find a way to share your opinions without denigrating others’.
Patricia
Hi David ,
Bad times are not always bad. Most of the quality creations in this world happened at the toughest time. The good times sometimes cannot reveal the real fact……..
and the bad time compels us to do more quality work, to rectify the inner self, to rethink over our works …….everything and moreover it helps us to become tougher so that we can survive at that time more critical. Nothing in this world is permanent… change is the only true thing in this world…..we have to adopt ourselves in this changing scenario of the world……..
Fight for the moment and hope for the best.
Partha Pal
Disclaimer:
I wrote the following thinking of posting it anonymously but changed my mind… so, here are my two cents…
The Good:
This is by far the most interesting site/blog I’ve followed in a while.
In the past several years I’ve followed many such sites, but most of them—even though interesting—either contain and present a single point of view (their authors, like Conscientious, Aphotoeditor, etc…) or are so general in their “focus” that they contain too much information—making it difficult to navigate through—and attract people with too different levels of involvement in photography, interests, backgrounds, etc… making it even more time-consuming than need be to distinguish between those comments/opinions which are actually insightful and helpful from those that are REALLY not (see Photo.net for example.)
The most intriguing element of the Burn community is the fact that most—if not all—posters are actually really good active photographers with personal styles and different approaches to the medium, and their comments—to some extent—provide insight to the ways they think and work.
The Not so Good:
Some posters seem to feel the need to show off how close and personal a relationship they have either with other posters or with our host. Don’t get me wrong, if I was friends with DAH or any other of the great people (and photographers too…) who frequent Burn I’d want the whole world to know… :) just keep in mind that there are more readers/followers of your posts than you might think, so make an effort to control your urges. There is always email, Skype and other more appropriate ways to communicate personal messages than public forums…
Of course this is a (semi)free world and you can post whatever you fell like posting—just like I do right now—but keep in mind that I—and I fear I’m not alone on this—have a “list” of posters whose posts I usually skip—just like you might do on my next post if god forbid there is one :)—even though from time to time I do like their views/opinions, just because I feel that they abuse their said freedom. We don’t need and we should not have “rules” as such to dictate and restrict how we express ourselves, but as anyone who’s been in a long term relationship knows:
a) there is a time and a place for everything
b) it’s not so much what you say but how and to whom you say it
and c) it’s best to weigh your thoughts and think twice before saying something out loud because like PJ said “some words when spoken can’t be taken back…”
Conclusion:
It is still a bit early but Burn could indeed evolve into something with historic proportions for documentary photography. Kind of a group f64 of shorts but on steroids—due to the “globality” provided by the internets…
(by the by I’m also dyslexic and it took me more than an hour to put this together… so please read the whole thing before responding.)
THODORIS…
first of all, thank you for not being anonymous…secondly, i really liked your interiors of Nicosia…thirdly, well, just thank you for taking all that time to so articulate your feelings…
all very much appreciated…..
cheers, david
i agree, Thodoris..your comments were well-considered, sincere and articulate. i enjoyed reading your post all the way to the end. and by the way, hello, i am Kat..and it´s very nice to meet you. Please stay and please keep writing if it isn´t too much of a drain on your energies.
most sincerely:
kat-
Welcome THEODORI to MR.Harvey’s PLACE TO BE !!!
Another Dyslexic…Oime ! You will be needed…
Good that you didn’t write anonymously cause MR. MICHAEL COURVOISIER is waiting at the corner !!
Don’t get me wrong BUT If you are keep writing here you will realize pretty soon that is so hard “to control your urges.”
AND You can SKIP My post cause it took me only a minute to write ( since i only copy and paste):))))
My Gracie : I got no space…I saw your Spaceboy
Katie : need update with your photo project
Mr.Jim :hold your ground
I LOVE YOU ALLLLLL
Theodori,
Totally agree and extremely thoughtfully put together.
CIVILIAN my darlingest Civil Servant of the Unwashed Masses:
Well! My photo assignment was to go with a couple members of the woman´s club to donate a few hundred new library books for Book Day at a school in the poorest barrio of Costa Rica. The barrio is called La Carpio. The school has 2500 kids attending in three different shifts. La Carpio is like going to another country. Literally. There´s a long skinny road, very straight, bordered on both sides by canyons. And mountains in the distance. It is right outside the capitol but you would never know it or see it. It´s like a country in a country. A really, really strange feeling. The roads are paved and there´s a steady strem of public buses going in and out. Bus after bus after bus. There are no trees, not a blade of grass or a tree or a flower. Just houses and houses and houses. A no-man´s land at least no one i know has ever been there.
I was invited to take photos that will help with fund raising. There were children everywhere. Dark children, light children, blonds, brunettes and redheads. Every single one was freshly scrubbed, ironed, polished and shined. And no, not because the woman´s club was coming with a photographer. Just because whoever got them ready for school had the same pride that every other parent or grandparent in Costa Rica has when they get their children ready for school. I kept wondering where are those little kids you see on the Adopt-a-Child tv commercials? I mean, i sound naive and sheltered because i´ve lived here for 20 years and have never seen the kind of kids they put on those commercials. And it´s not because i have always lived in nice places. I have lived in a two room shack with an outdoor bathroom here. I have shared a home in a squatter barrio with a family of 10. i have walked this country´s roads till i´ve been ragged. The only time i saw kids like the ones in the commercials was when they had just played a game of soccer in the rain and the mud. So i´m not saying those kids don´t exist and i´m not saying ther isn´t poverty and horribly difficult conditions but people here have so much pride that they will never let their children betray their painful impoverished cicrumstances with an unkempt appearance.
I was taken into the library where the little 4 and 5 year olds were practicing a play called ¨Sopa de Piedra¨. A story about a very poor person who had no money for food. So along the road he started picking up rocks and pretended to make soup with them. By and by people came by and asked what he was doing and he told them he was making sopa de piedra but what would really make it taste good would be an onion. So someone gave him an onion. Then he said, what would really make it better still would be a carrot. And someone gave him a carrot and so on and on until he had a real soup. This play was then presented to all the children gathered in the front part of the school for assembly. Afterwards they pledged allegiance and all sang the national anthem and then they all went into the dining room where they had a REAL sopa de piedra with REAL meat in it, prepared by 3 heroines of La Carpio who prepare a hot meal for 2500 kids every single day. But never with meat. The meat was contributed by an American lady named Gail. Gail has worked with kids in CR for many years. She used to pick up street kids right off the road by telling them the cops were coming so they´d better hop into her car and then off she´d go, taking them home, giving them an alternative to their terrible lives sniffing glue and begging for money barefoot. So anyway, the meat was a big treat today in celebration of Dia del Libro (Book Day).
For me it was amazing to be able to shoot children so freely. Especially at a school. usually there is terrible paranoia and kids are off limits almost entirely. So this was a bit of a shock for me. But a delightful one. One little boy was very camera shy. When i asked why he said the camera doesn´t like him. I said ok, i´ll take a picture and if he didn´t like it i would delete it (i was shooting digital for a change). He said ok. But everytime i put the camera to my eye he would assume a tough guy look, narrowing his eyes and letting his jaw go slack. So i´d put the camera down and try in my usual ways to get him to drop his guard. Which he would do..until i put the camera up to my eye again. Same thing. Finally i started asking him about stuff he liked hoping it would make him forget what i was there for. He shrugged. I asked him…cookies? TV? soccer? chicken? video games? Girls? nada, nothing. He just gave me a blank stare. So i just dropped the camera to my side, slid up along the wall next to him, slouched down and just relaxed with him. I said, ok, so what do you like best? He said, ¨reading¨. He made my day.
And Civilian, that account of my day is for you. My sweet dyslexic psychic person.
kat-
KATIE,
Ok, Can you submit a picture or something because …:((
My eyes are hurting already … Can you Imagine …I read my name at the beginning and immediately I started sweating …
“He said,”reading”.
YOU PHOTOGRAPHERS are blessed !!! BUT, BLESS can turn into a CURSE !!!
OIME…
WHY… “YOU MADE ME STAY !!! “
Thodoris,
yes, extremely well put. We need more voices like yours here. Please stay on.
Civilian
i´m really sorry…when i mentioned that some of us here are verbose i was talking about me! I know a pic is worth a thousand words but i don´t have a website or your e-mail so i used words instead :(( Can you forgive me for making your eyes sweat?
kat-
KATIE
I guess I will see you at the SPA. YOU MAKE MY DAY TOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
See ya soon, street fighter !!
i´m really glad there are charecters and a vibe of positive friendship on burns virtual pages.
much rather have the sour delights of olives than the bland and pasty charms of dog food anyday.
anchovies.
david
HELLLLOOOOOOOO!!!
IS ANYBODY HOME ???????????
AKAKY: Are you?
AKAKY IRL: Am I what?
AKAKY: Home.
AKAKY IRL: No, I’m here with you.
AKAKY: Am I?
AKAKY IRL: Are you what?
AKAKY: Home.
AKAKY IRL: No.
AKAKY: Am I with you?
AKAKY IRL: Not damn likely.
AKAKY: Oh. In that case, I should go do something.
AKAKY IRL: Such as?
AKAKY: Beats the hell out of me.
AKAKY IRL: I wish someone would. Maybe they’d pound some sense into you.