I have been insanely busy for the last few months and just haven't had the time to devote to my photography as I would have liked.  Hence, I've been somewhat missing in action here on .  But over the last few days I have endeavoured to wade through the thousands of deviations and hundreds of messages in my message center.

Yesterday I happened upon an image which at first glance struck me as quite offensive.  It certainly was not the intention of the artist to offend, I'm certain.  And I struggled with "What should I do?"  Options included ignoring it and moving on (we have to be realistic here - there are thousands of images on dA that people find offensive in one form or another), or saying something to the artist.  I showed the image to a friend and they were more incensed than I was (in no small measure, I am sure, because the image denigrated their own cultural heritage).  But I still wasn't sure.

I looked at the images again (this was a series) and noticed two things.  One, that the artist in their comments asked the question "Why do groups not accept my images?"  And two, in the comments the artist also stated they welcomed thoughtful critiques of their images and would never hide those comments.  So...

I wrote a comment to the image.  I explained the subject matter was well-executed and the quality of the work from a technical standpoint was quite high.  But I questioned the nature of the subject matter, particularly because there were a great many people that would find it offensive and denigrating to a particular culture and group of people - a group that has certainly had much more than it's fair share of pain and suffering.  I explained that what the artist may have seen as "fun" or "whimsy" was going to be viewed as quite hurtful by others.

Well, the artist must have been online when I posted the comment.  Almost immediately after my posting, the comment was hidden and I was blocked from their page.  They soon blocked the ability for anyone to critique the images (and there were others that had expressed the same concerns I did).  As of this morning they had changed the titles of the images in the series, presumably as an attempt to make them somewhat less offensive.

It wasn't my goal to upset the artist, but to hopefully raise the level of awareness of the issue.  As I shared this with my friend we mused about what we're here for - comments or compliments?  I love compliments.  I love hearing that something I've worked on, something I've created or something I have captured has touched another in a profound way as it has touched me.  And I readily admit that I'm disappointed when an image I feel particularly strongly about garners little if any interest.  But compliments are not why I'm here.  I'm here to share my work, engage in the shared work of others, and hopefully grow as an artist myself.

So comments, compliments, whatever you have shared with me... THANK YOU!  I appreciate every comment and do my best to respond to each and every one.  You have all helped me grow as an artist, and I very much look forward to our continued interactions!