"Haters"

Posted this as a blog entry at another site...thought you all might like it. Please comment with your thoughts...

"Do You Have 'Haters' ?"

This got posed as a topic at the MM Forums, and tho I didn't respond, it did get me to thinking, so I thought I'd expand on it here, and maybe get myself to stop thinking about it, as I have a shoot today, and I need to stay focused (lol).

Do I have 'haters'? Oh, yah...most definitely. Why? Well, let's pick this apart a bit and see if we can get to the root of it all. First, let me put a name to what I do and then we'll break it apart from there...

I'm an Amateur "DiD" Bondage Photographer.

First: Amateur. This alone causes me grief...many is a day over at MM that some fool is calling for the eradication of amateurs from the site in a Forum topic..."ModelMayhem should only be for Professionals"...stuff like that. The ironic part for me is that most of the people who put up topics like that are usually amateurs themselves...just makes me wonder how they can be so intolerant. Everybody has to start somewhere...and we all should be willing to help each other start. My opinion. Sites like these should be open to all skill levels.

Next: "DiD". "Damsel In Distress" photography...shot to make the model look like the captive of some unknown baddie who's taken the heroine away for an unknown reason. The "unknowns", the fan of the material fills with his or her (yes, there are female fans of this type of material...I have the fanbase to prove it) own fantasy. This has caused some hating...the amateur nature of the photography lends itself to people placing their own level of thought on the pictures, depending on whether you love it or hate it. Comments tend to run from, "Great ropework!" to "Should we call the Police?" Like I always say, "It is what it is. You either love it or hate it."

Next: Bondage. Oh, BOY, does that one attract haters...lol. MM seems to have a "secret society" of members that despise bondage of any shape or form, artistic or DiD, and are very vocal in sharing said thought. According to them, I'm a dysfunctional human being with severe mental problems because of my love for the material. There's many an armchair psychologist on MM that's willing to give their opinion about it and tell us bondage folks that we're all sick puppies. Viva la sickness, then...I'd rather be sick than intolerant and so stuck to my own way of thinking that I can't expand and grow with new thoughts and ideas.

"Photographer". This one surprises me...but I do get some haters because I dare to call myself a "photographer". I guess my amateur status precludes me from being a "photographer", and I should call myself a "pitcher-taker", or some fool thing like that...

We're all gonna have "haters". Some people just need to be that way in order to exsist...the trick to it is to not let them take over your life and live it for them, or change what you are to be "better" for their sake alone. I'm an Amateur "DiD" Bondage Photographer, and damn proud of it. If you've got a problem with that, take it up with someone who actually gives a damn.

Geez, was that a blog or a rant? ;-) In any case, thanks for listening...catch ya next entry!

"Tolstoy" Tony, TucsonTied