Re: [Leica] RE: Eric's site & the LUG Gestapo

[Carl Socolow <csocolow@microserve.net>]

Stephen wrote:
> 
> I personally find it very amusing  that so many people are upset about
> someone's  honest appraisal of Eric pics.   So what if Becker doesn't
> like the images ?   Becker is still  entitled to have that opinion and
> to be able to post that view without being lambasted for it.
> 
> ANYONE has the right to an opinion on photographs, and has the right to
> express that opinion on the net, or on the LUG.  The notion that one
> person's opinion on a photograph is someone better than someone else's
> is bullshit as far as I am concerned.  Either you like it or you don't,
> that's all there is to it.   Other factors like experience, awards, LUG
> contributions,  how well someone is liked, what your mother said,  or
> how it will be received by the defenders of Eric,  are all irrelevant
> when it comes down to "Do you like the picture or not?"
> 
> That the LUG Police want to verbally abuse and flame  anyone for posting
> a negative appraisal of  Eric's pics shows far more about the  Gestapo
> than it does about Eric's pics or someone who isn't particularly
> impressed by them.
> 
> What about the freedom of speech and the discussion of ideas?
> 
> To avoid similar  problems in the future,   please post guidelines of
> what LUG members may or may not write or think.
> 
> Stephen Gandy

Alright, Stephen, I'll bite. I resent the Gestapo attribution that may
be directed at anything I've said in defense of Eric's images. (I hope
this isn't this week's hate thread). I absolutely agree with you
regarding free speech and opinion issues. And I welcome them-
constructively, in context and with some sort of feedback. To
Christian's credit he did find merit in a couple of the other photos.
And to his credit he also indicated it was his subjective "radical"
opinion. I guess what bothered me was Christian's entrance into the LUG
on a negative contributory note. Honestly, I'd like to know more about
his photographic interests and his stylistic choices. These are
sensibilities and viewpoints that are lacking of late in the ongoing
babble about enth degree of sharpness and other technical performance
issues. Oddmund, for all his faults, at least incited (more like
ignited) a dialogue on social and ethical issues and ramifications of
photography. But, please, lay off the Gestapo stuff. It's too close to
home.

Carl S.