Super Mario (A Bruthu')

Mario who grew up on the grittier side of Las Vegas, here, lights a

cigar during a break as a night clerk at an executive hotel/motel.

A miscreant, a genius, a musician of great talent, a man of great

charm, a man of misfortune are just a few of the descriptors that

might describe Mario, depending on which side he reveals to you, but

in any case, he's super-smart and super-efficient at whatever he

does. Your ratings and critiques are invited and most welcome. If

you rate harshly or very critically, please submit a helpful and

constructive comment; please share your superior photographic

knowledge to help improve my photography. Thanks! Enjoy! John

After three rates, two 3/3s and a 4/4, totally unexpected on posting, for one of my BEST PORTAITS IN RECENT TIMES, and the lowest total score I have ever received on a photo, I am utterly astonished, and I wonder, has the ugly face of racism been raised, or is it somewhat more complex? I wrote of Mario's multiple facets and are the first raters reacting to a 'black man' being super intelligent or being multi-faceted by giving low and mediocre ratings in what I consider one of my 'great' portrait/character photos?

 

I know that ratings are a popularity contest, but they should be a popularity contest for the photo's worth as a photo's technical and artistic aspects, and if this is a 3/3, 4/4 photo, I'd be astonished on either score. I regularly post far worse stuff and get rates a full point and a half greater or higher. I consider this absolutely one of my best works -- fully capturing this man's essence.

 

I remind raters that rating is not a popularity contest for the SUBJECT of the photo or his description, but for the photo and its qualities of aesthetics and originality. There are few photos showing black men lighting cigars on the Internet and if the low ratings are a reaction to lighting cigars, that also would be an abuse of the ratings system, since the system is to evaluate the worth of the capture, not place a moral or ethical judgment on the behavior being depicted or the person being depicted. Just on the subject alone, this should score fairly high on originality, and for aesthetics, that does not just reward 'beauty', but also 'impact' and other descriptors that are NOT synonymous with beauty -- if in doubt, I suggest reading the ratings guidelines (I have from the start).

 

John (Crosley)

I doubt if it's racism, since you have every color in the world on PN...plus the fact that most of us consistently get 3's and 4's on our favorite work (with no comments, of course). I like your subject, and the idea, but it's slightly blurry, and the white light under his chin is distracting. I'm no expert, but you could try burning the white light a little darker, and I'd love to see this tried in black and white, which would get rid of the green stripe under his chin.

Ok... to start of with (I have not yet to read what you wrote as I am to excited and want to post first) I absolutely LOVE the color in this! So forgive me if I say something you have already said.

The glow of the fire is just incredible! 3/3's are just ignorant! Stupid! 4's tell me they didn't even look at this and just clicked 4's on that easy rate button. I DO NOT RATE that way nor do I rate without a comment EVER. I also never rate without leaving a remark (except when I first started as I was not sure how to rate at first).

If they really looked how could they not notice that this mans hand is still in motion lighting this fire. That YOU caught this man lighting his already smoked cig on fire. So he saved an early cig on fire from earlier. I did read a little bit earlier about him being a musician, oh now I must look back, yes a musician. Well, I am a musician and I feel that in his hands. The way he holds his hands he has played an instrument. I play the keyboard (piano) and the trumpet. I am actually quite good (concieted yes in this matter) but have not played in a while but my hands have this same quality. They are strong hands but have an ability to like they are double jointed because of all their playing.

Now the title Super Mario. YES, I am a FAN!! I played the game till my fingers wore out (all that piano playing helped). He does look like that Nintendo character and you called it out correctly! You dressed this scene up correctly and I love that! You took this picture and made a story with it and it draws me into it. I want to know more about him and more about his story. I like how you only focused on him, his light and that glow that shows on his face and how that is the only thing he has and we know it.

This is a great picture and it deserves on a 7/7! Thank you for sharing it with us! ~ micki ~

And that's awfully much, not awfully bad.

 

With over 6,000 rates to date and three years on Photo.net, I sometimes can sense when something's amiss.

 

This is one of those times.

 

I travel frequently and I encounter all sorts of people, and sometimes those people have certain, ah, prejudices.

 

Now, about your criticisms, they are well founded, although as to the 'white light' under the chin, I beg to differ (honestly of course) since that white light is how one recognizes that it's a chin at all, and it is dodged somewhat using shadow/highlight filter so it's not overpowering. While it does compete with the lighter somewhat, it does so hardly at all.

 

As to sharpness/blurriness, if one looks at the flame -- the subject of this photo and the cigar, they're quite sharp considering this is a nighttime photo, illuminated by a flame only.

 

And for originality, that should alone earn it high scores as well as for technical proficiency, since the contrast in EVs in tremendously high between a flame (which has very high EVs and the shadowy face of a black man, which has very low EVs even though lighted by a nearby flame.

 

Same with the hands, and their crooked and bent appearance.

 

I suggest for blurriness and scores (high scores) you look in my Single Photo Color folder for a photo that is 99% blurs and which continues to outdraw most of the nearby photos, a photo of a white man, wrinkled forehead, lighting a cigarette at night -- and he's listed as a 'wife killer'. He's completely out of focus except for the tip of his cigarette, and that photo was acknowledged and still does have 'great impact' according to raters and viewers.

 

When I travel, I encounter those of different cultures, and I grew up in a time when black people couldn't eat in certain restaurants (except if they came in the back door, or too carryout) and even Leontine Price, the famed opera singer who gave a performance in my home town, Eugene, Oregon, was refused residency at the only major hotel in town -- the Eugene Hotel, on the grounds of, well, 'we're not prejudiced, but other people are, and they won't stay with us if you stay with us' as though she had some sort of black cooties or something.

 

That's the way it was.

 

And speaking of prejudice, I encounter it all the time against Jews.

 

Not Zionism but Jews in general.

 

I patronize in Amsterdam certain Shoarma vendors (now as little as possible) from Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries and they spend a great deal of their time trashtalking 'The Jews' and if I ask for a lower price on something that does not have a price marked they ask if 'I'm Jewish' or say 'I'm Jewing them' and should 'be Jewish'.

 

Prejudice does exist.

 

In Ukraine, I was on a mashootka trip from Odessa to Dnepropetrovsk, an 11-hour trip and I was the lone passenger on New Year's Eve last year and became very friendly with both drivers.

 

On another trip, I found I had become well known and liked among mashootka drivers throughout southern Ukraine. I got into a mashootka (a small Mercedes van seating about 16), for a similar trip returning to Odessa months later and the drivers didn't know me -- at least I thought.

 

The mashootka stopped in the snow on a hilltop and sat there inexplicably with passengers for about 25 minutes and suddenly another mashootka van with passengers pulled up on the opposite side from the opposite direction and out popped the two drivers from my prior trip to greet me. My

 

The same two New Year's eve drivers who had liked me so much had been called by mobile phone by my drivers and we met for a session of trading BS on the snowy hilltop and hugging and stomping feet in the snow.

 

I remember one of the drivers after peeing behind the mashootka (no toilets) telling me how happy he was and he 'loved the world' 'except of course the Yids' meaning Jews.

 

'What do you mean except the Yids' I asked.

 

I asked him if he even knew any Jews, in fractured Russian/English.

 

He said he didn't know any, but asked if I was one of THEM?

 

I said 'no' I wasn't but I might have been, and how would he have known?

 

I went to University in the area next to Harlem (Columbia University on Morningside Heights.)

 

Police, instead of patrolling Harlem at night, simply slept in their vehicles in groups of twelve or so police cars at an uptown Manhattan Park (NY Times is my source, and I saw it personally), after posting a lookout.

 

After all, the people they were 'serving and protecting' were 'second class citizens'. Harlem went unpoliced and people said the residents were 'lawless' and Harlem was 'dangerous' at night.

 

No wonder.

 

My barber pronounced that he didn't know how to cut black hair and if a black man came in for a hair cut he'd send him away, and when I told my father I didn't want him to be my barber any more, I was told to continue patronizing this man because our family owned the ramshackle building he rented his shop from. (My father otherwise never uttered a racial slur -- not ever, or a racist comment to my hearing).

 

Nor anyone in my family to my hearing.

 

When I grew up, black people were in and out of my home -- graduate students from Africa and other upscale individuals handing over their graduate dissertations to my mother to type. I was astonished when I learned firsthand of racism in this country, as that was not MY experience. We judged people by their worth, not their skin color.

 

I tutored in Harlem, and the black kids touched my skin to find if 'white felt different' -- they ran their fingers over my face the first few times we met. They never had met a white man before or seen a white person up close or at all. They'd only seen a white person on television.

 

And various Oriental individuals in, say, California where recently I have made my home have been famously discriminatory, such that it may almost have been considered malpractice for a personal injury attorney with (peremptory challenges) to allow an Asian (Chinese especially) to stay on a San Francisco jury where a black plaintiff's claims are being heard (or it was the case when I ceased practicing law.

 

I never had to exercise such challenges as that was not my personal experience but the collective experience of my legal brethren in the plaintiff's bar. The San Francisco Chinese at that time famously were anti-black.

 

It's easy to exercise a prejudice when rating a photo. Just give a photo of such an individual a low rate. After all, nobody really knows. And rate instead of not rate instead of passing over that photo -- exercise your prejudice.

 

It's surreptitious.

 

It's not showing off one's prejudice, but it hurts a little nonetheless and puts down the denigrated group, be it blacks, Jews, Iraquis, Muslims, Orientals (remember those jokes about 'Driving While Oriental?) and so forth.

 

Stereotypes may have some place in a comedy club, but not on Photo.net, and I suspect it has had a place in this photo's rating.

 

Prove to me I'm wrong and I'll accept it.

 

I seldom post what I think is a 'winner' and get rock bottom ratings.

 

I post a lot of 'edgy' stuff that may get such ratings, but not my 'winners'.

 

Maybe I'm dead wrong . . . I'll accept that.

 

But It'll take some convincing.

 

Mario himself saw this photo among others and said he wanted this for his first album cover. I agreed it was one of my best portraits ever.

 

(I don't know if I like or dislike Mario -- I'm undecided, but I am not undecided about this photo.)

 

I remember when anybody who 'stood up' for the oppressed blacks (then called Negroes), was called a 'Nigger lover' as a form of disparagement.

 

That was long after I turned into an adult that such behavior ceased being held out publicly, and it goes on in certain subculture in the US today, and who's to say that Photo.net's vast membership is somehow immune.

 

I'm open to argument, however, as none of my photos are sacrosanct.

 

It's just that for this one I smelled a rat, and I truly was astonished. I have never really made much of a point of ratings before, though I grouse about them from time to time. But I do it here, and not in the site feedback forum. My views are easily found, and ratings generally are quite 'on' in terms of popularity. It's just that some things 'skew' ratings.

 

Just ask an 'Arab' from Palestine to rate a family portrait of Israelis and see what happens to the ratings. . . .

 

Thanks for interceding.

 

John (Crosley)

I have read your comment and am glad you hadn't read my own personal comment before writing and posting yours. I am sure you have read my own first personal comment by now, and are aware of the 'racial' aspect I feel.

 

As a recent returnee from Japan, and apparently being 'white' (Caucasian is a misnomer since people of the Caucasus region are more 'swarthy' than the whiter people of the rest of the Russian/Slavic areas), you probably were very familiar with the discriminatory practices of the Japanese that they are famous for when a Westerner of Caucasian blood tries to assimilate into their culture.

 

I'll leave it for you to write about that if you choose or to set me straight if it no longer exists, as that culture not so long ago was famous for its discriminatory practices against Westerners who lived in Japan, and not just against Western military, but against business people and their families.

 

A Japanese saying is that 'the nail that sticks up gets pounded down' or words to that effect.

 

A white person in the Japanese culture, I hear, is considered a 'nail sticking up' and I hear the pounding is pretty relentless, if not universal.

 

I'm interested in your opinion, as this discussion seems to have encompass the issue of discrimination/racism, institutional or not.

 

By the way, you have quickly assumed the mantle of one of the best writers and original thinkers (if not spellers or grammarians) on Photo.net.

 

;~))

 

John (Crosley)

In one word your comment is: FABULOUS

 

You showed me things I never even considered and never would have known about.

 

Thanks.

 

John (Crosley)

John, I certainly agree that prejudice is everywhere...I just think it's so stupid, especially based on what color someone's skin is. As a Christian (and Christians are getting a lot of prejudice lately, too), I believe the human race started with one couple who were probably of medium-brown skin color. Genetically they could have had kids of every color from whitest to blackest. As people moved around the earth and stayed in isolated areas and had kids, genetic information would be lost, and those communities would end up with similar skin coloring in future generations. Skin color should be such an unimportant thing.

 

I also know what you say about the Jews is very true, and getting worse all the time, but that also is Biblical. There is no good reason for the tremendous persecution of the Jews, except that God said it would happen because they are His chosen people. It's all in the Bible, in prophecy.

 

I see what you mean about the light outlining his chin. Well, we just can't please people sometimes, can we? I see everyone complaining about bad ratings on very good photos. I don't understand the phantom 3/3 raters, but you notice they never leave comments. Don't let them get you down.

YES! See, I never saw him as anything else but a man. I don't see race at all. Funny isn't it because I have lived everywhere. Now I do see short because I am tall so Japanese people were hard not to notice. But with this man until I looked back I didn't notice that he was "different". Now living here in Florida I do notice that my kids now go to a school where they now look exactly like everyone else! WEIRD. It bothers my daughter tremendously to not have friends that are all different and she welcomes moving away from here in two years.

Now you also made me giggle, YEP! You made my husband just shake his head and laugh to!

"By the way, you have quickly assumed the mantle of one of the best writers and original thinkers (if not spellers or grammarians) on Photo.net."

YEP, that is me! I even make up my own words. My kids think I am crazy and my friends all know not to correct my blogs as I try hard not to make mistakes but I am terrible at finding what I do wrong. That is the hard part about checking your own work. You did it how are you supposed to know you did it wrong!

See in a blog it can all be about LOL and smiley faces ;) without any word structure. So here I am trying to use correct grammar again after not working and without microsoft word (HA). (insert LOL here)

So it is the dreaded 12am and we are doing are evening of checking the pictures and enjoying the quiet night. Thanks for the wonderful picture.

 

For 20 years my poor husband has tried working on me to get better at my grammar, learn another language and spell better. In the proccess he learned three other languages while I sat and figured out two too and to (but still get it wrong). Of course when I had a JOB I made WAY more money than he did (back when I WORKED). Now he would FAR surpass me as he has gained high in rank. My job was to just have healthy kids and give them every ounce I had to give them in my brain (they of course got dad's smarts in the area of spelling). I LOVED this job and every moment is what makes looking at a picture like this so important! This is REAL! I look at this from a mother's eye. Just a moment and that is what pictures are all about and we identify with it.

Thanks again for the laugh and the sharing. ~ micki

John,

First off, I've not looked at your portfolio, read your bio, or tried to familiarize myself to you or your work prior to reading the string attached to this photo. That being stated, I have to thank Micki for sharing you with me. She has enjoyed the dialogue.

This picture is a good example of bringing a focal point to life and making the viewer search for the focus. By that I mean the light of the fire is so bright that it almost appears out of focus. Like a moth, I was drawn to the flame immediately and searched the periphery for other items to take in. The crook of the fingers, the intent gaze on the end (having lit enough cigars I know when to look so as to not burn my lips, nose or fingers), the blocking of wind; all are integral in the composition of the shot. Regarding the light under chin; Kim was correct in that it can be distracting, however, I agree with you that it IS what delineates the outline of Mario's chin. Plus, it is distorted and gives a glimpse into the world from which he is taking a break. Blurry or not (and yes, Kim, I saw the blurry first and had to look away and readdress without NORMAL bias in order to fully appreciate the shot. The collective WE are conditioned to look for the most clarity in pictures, things , life (Optometrist inquires "Which one is more clear? Number 1 or number 2?"). Once I released this initial prejudice, I was able to fully examine it for what it is; a look into the heart of an individual. As a Naval Officer, I am honor bound to certain principles. One is Honor, which I take to mean doing what is right when no one is looking. Mario here is being true to himself, caught by you doing what he finds honorable to himself. (One can determine a great deal about another by the manner in which he relaxes. ferguson 2007) So, if your intent was to capture Mario in his true form, I believe you did this superbly.

 

On to the racism question. As anyone should attest, prejudice and racism exists and can, at times, remain unchecked. However, most times it is reigned in, noticed, refuted, and attacked in return if found today; and this is what happened with Sen Biden's comments about Sen Obama last week. He got beaten down by all for his apparent racial comments. Unfortunately, we are conditioned to racism today, and to say that one is not racist is purely fantasy. I, too, grew up white, in a mixed culture, urban (inner-city Baltimore) as well as suburban (Shreveport) and a bit of rural (West Virginia) to boot. I had school letters come home in English and Greek, played basketball on a city playground and affectionately called "Bird" because I was the only white kid there, and go to an all-white private school. I was most comfortable at the school in Europe where it was as heterogenous as could be possible. Even then, my closest friends tended to the whiter set; not because I didn't want to hang out with my black, Korean, Samoan, Guamanian, German, Hispanic or other classmates, no, it was that groups tended toward the familiar. I blended more than most, almost a chameleon, but I was still white. And I witnessed overt, cultural racism in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. I saw it in class learning Albanian and heard the hatred towards Croats or Serbs, who lived not 100 miles away but may as well have been an attacking race from the Outer Milky Way. Scary thing was that, to my eyes, Albanians, Serbs, Croats, Yugoslavians all looked alike. But THEY knew. And THEY hated. No different than Arabs and Jews in Palestine. To the casual observer they look alike. And why wouldn't they to one not there. We are conditioned. It is environment, and unfortunately, we are all in one environ or another. Unless you live in a vacuum, you will experience racism. And to my daughter's credit, there is no such thing as reverse racism--it is just racism. We all have some, and as soon as we come to terms with that, the sooner we can move on and live more harmoniously. Longwinded response to say this: I looked at this piture for a long time and I cannot definitively say that I see Mario as a black man. I can't nail down what nationality he would claim nor should I have to. He is a man. He is at peace. He is everyman. And as everyman, we cannot ascribe such a thing as color. He is the embodiment of all color, creed, religion, love and hate, beliefs. Most of us would be hard-pressed to remember the last time we were so engrossed in relaxing such as Mario here but it would probably make the world a better place.

To the issue of rating this picture and how it stands compared with your other work. The moment you hang your shingle out in front, you will take it on the chin. Lawyers, doctors, artists. Practicing their trade. This is why the great Rennaissance artists found champions of their work. Not everyone likes frescos (why, I cannot say for I love them) and someone had to pay Michaelangelo to work. If he took negative criticism, ingested it and stopped working because of it, we may not have had some of the greatest artwork created. Ignorance is bliss and there are numerous blissful raters on PN. If YOU stop presenting work because you may receive negative ratings, then you have stopped being an artist and have become a corporate patsy. I do not see you as a patsy, so buck up and present YOUR view, YOUR work and make NO apologies or defenses. My Saint of a Mother stated to me several years ago the defining words of an adult, "It is none of your business what other people think about you." I haven't looked back.

This photo should be an album cover for Mario, and he should have you as his official photog. We should all be so photographed. I appreciate the passion placed in this work and for that, I will not rate it. One cannot quantify passion. Thus, I extend to you the hand of brotherhood, as one who understands the beatdown the world can deliver. Stand tall my friend. You are a giant among the giants.

fergi

Your comment, as Micki's above, is beyond wonderful, and I won't reiterate it.

 

I simply will comment my readers to read it and digest it.

 

And I will repeat one part of it: to deny that there is racism or even that racism does not affect even those of us who claim we are free of racism (fat chance really) is absurd.

 

The prisons are full of mostly black man in hugely disproportionate numbers to their incidence in the population, and part of it may very well be a result of racism.

 

One cause may have been Congress's insistence on defining the drug of choice of the black community, rock cocaine, as more harmful than powdered cocaine, and thus for sure a felony, while whites who more often lived in suburbs could plead lesser pleas and get off with lighter sentences that eventually could be expunged while the inner city black youths (yes, that is a stereotype but one borne out by the numbers in places like say, Oakland and San Francisco and Los Angeles in my neck of the woods) are more likely not only to go to prison, but in California prison is NOT for rehabilitation by state law now, but for punishment, and prisons are well known to be schools for breeding future criminals and educating the callow youths (and other less than callow youths) who arrive in them, to commit more sophisticated crimes by their exposure to the more hardened prisoners who have committed the harder and more sophisticated or more violent crimes.

 

When the Soviet Union collapsed of overspending and lack of resources to carry its population in 1991, some were surprised when the businessmen, the former KGB and the criminals banded together to form an allegiance that became known as the kleptocracy or 'organized crime' with the express purpose of taking over Russia's vast industries and vast natural resources.

 

But consider this: Under Communism, being a businessman was a crime and punishment for a crime (doing business) was to be sent to jail and/or prison.

 

When a businessman (black marketeer by definition since all business was illegal and thus black marketeering), the businessman lived, ate, drank, and eliminated and socialized with the harder core elements of Russian society and allegiances were formed.

 

Those allegiances came to the fore when the Soviet Union collapsed and soon (as I can personally attest) murders and bombings came the order of the day. I personally met at least three women whose brothers owned one-half interest in a hotel, here or there, were offered to be bought out by their partners for absurdly low sums, refused the sums with a 'huff' only to find their cars (with them in it) bombed and had each to spend about six weeks in he hospital (and not any hospital but a Russian hospital, where there are cockroaches sometimes, as I can personally attest, but not too many since there's no food around, a fact I also can attest to.)

 

Well, in Ryazan, a regional capital two to three hours train and/or bus ride from Moscow, there is an entire section of the local cemetery dedicated to huge five-foot tall or so erect black slabs with engraved bas relief full-length or so portraits of Mafia men and their wives/girlfriends who were gunned down in internecine fights over 'Mafia' territory in the fight for control of the wealth. My in-laws twice had axes buried in their apartment door, once while they were inside cowering in a bedroom (I bought them a steel door for their apartment front door, to their everlasting thanks).

 

Things have quieted down now, but we see the folly of throwing common criminals (criminals per se who have committed crimes which we all know are crimes, together with those who may be ordinary citizens who have committed crimes malum prohibitum (or crimes who are defined by law as crimes, but might not actually be crimes in every jurisdiction everywhere and drug crimes are one of those -- especially 'illegal' use of 'illegal' drugs, and especially where the 'intent' was not to 'peddle' those drugs, especially to schoolchildren.

 

Mario, above, as noted in the request for critique, has had a checkered history, which I will not go into here. As noted, he grew up on the 'grittier side of Las Vegas, and he has seen a side of culture you and I will never experience and have never experienced, and the question is will it pull him down for a lifetime or will he be able to rise above it.

 

That is an open question, and I have encouraged Mario, because of his tremendous attributes, to rise above his background, and become a leader, for he possesses the attributes to become one, or at least a wealthy man based on his abilities -- if he can harness them, especially by further schooling.

 

(He didn't ask; I volunteered. I don't waste my time with dolts, either.)

 

The jury, so to speak, may be out for a long time on Mario's future, but I'm pulling for him.

 

But society has it against people who grew up with a 'gritty' background and who have been pulled down by it, despite great personal attributes such as Mario possesses.

 

Temptation often proves great to simply do the expedient thing to move through life and to make money in expedient (and maybe illegal) ways, for that is the way of many of the underclass. As noted in comments above, in Harlem, the entire part of Manhattan that was Harlem for one-third of the day was entirely unpoliced, and I witnessed drug dealing going on right under the nose of cops, and surely the cops were paid off (See the movie 'Serpico' if you want to know how that worked.)

 

And I watched NYC cops steal from time to time, especially not paying restaurant checks, cowing restaurant owners into not complaining for fear if they needed help the cops would not arrive -- a real fear then.

 

Life has many 'expediencies' and not all 'Naval officers' live the conviction of their oaths (witness 'Tailhook'), but you sound and seem absolutely sincere, and maybe it's a tribute to Harry S. Truman who with a stroke of the pen desegregated the military (yes, he just signed an order and 'poof' the military was desegregated -- on paper at least -- and a goal was set for the future, with no rules or laws to hide behind for those who would continue discrimination in the ranks (it still existed of course.)

 

But a Colin Powell could rise to the nation's highest military rank, even though he was the My Ly apologist (a fact often overlooked), and eventually squandered his sterling good reputation by backing ill-conceived moves of the present Administration and was essentially made a 'fall-guy', destroying him politically.

 

And he once was a potential presidential aspirant whose ambitions were held in check largely by a skeptical and fragile wife more than anything. Barak O'Bama on the other hand appears to have announced for the presidency today.

 

Things have changed - somewhat.

 

Racism still exists however, and many will vote their discrimination when it comes time to punch out that 'chad' or pull that lever.

 

But we have come some ways; and unfortunately blacks have embraced a 'thug culture' which Mario and I have spoken about also -- he sees it as I have -- as having set blacks back in their rise to equality.

 

I think he is right, of course, and he is prescient.

 

Fergie, your daughter also is somewhat prescient and amazingly observant -- she taught me things about my own photo that I could hardly have imagined -- especially about this man's fingers -- almost double-jointed and noted that the cig had been already smoked which I had forgotten (this was not a prompt relight of something that just went out.)

 

Andrew, I praise you for your fine, well-written (and highly articulate ;-)) post.

 

It should be required reading for today's youth, as perhaps this whole commentary section should be.

 

John (Crosley)

 

I didn't really start this thread to complain about ratings as such.

 

I get lots and lots of low ratings, but am still one of the highest-viewed members of Photo.net, with one folder the fifth highest-viewed for the year and another the thirteenth. No complaints about that.

 

I simply don't compete for ratings.

 

And I simply mostly enjoy ratings as I enjoy watching any 'popularity contest'. I really don't have a dog in this race.

 

I picked my dog and it's a winner, regardless of the ratings.

 

I know what's a winner, generally, and what's a loser and am seldom surprised.

 

Since I was greatly surprised on this one, I looked for the cause, and lo and behold, racism raised its ugly head.

 

It was racism that I recoiled against, not low ratings.

 

Simple as that.

 

It was time to start a thread about rating based on the 'subject' of the photo and like of dislike of the 'subject' (a matter more general than racism, admittedly, as well as overt and covert racism, which I think I detected, and was determined to 'nip in the bud'.)

 

I'll bet you, Fergie, that if I hadn't started this thread, the 3/3s and 3/4s would have come rolling in from those who had started to rate this photo low, but the thread has caught them off balance, with their racism exposed.

 

Now they are exposed, I think.

 

But I could be wrong.

 

It has nine rates now.

 

My hope is it will have two more, of whatever number, to make my highest-rated photos page, and be presented to those who click that link, as I'm proud of it.

 

That will defeat those who low-rated in order to 'bury' the photo, as low-rated photos don't get high views and essentially get 'lost' in the shuffle, no matter how great their merit -- which is a motive I imputed. (Was I wrong?)

 

I'm always open to discussion on that issue.

 

If I hadn't posted an entirely blurry photo of a wife-killer lighting a cigarette, (a white man) early in my PN career, and received high praise for it, I might have had a different outlook.

 

I've practiced law and suffered the slings and arrows.

 

That's why I post what I will, when I will and never look back.

 

I almost never take anything down, for any reason except technical reasons.

 

I am true to myself in this regard.

 

If I could trim my portfolio, there's some earlier stuff, I'd delete or let lie. But I keep it to show my progress, plus it's interesting, much of it.

 

And it's helpful in teaching PN neophytes that there is a path from a neophyte to a highly-viewed member with a following.

 

And it isn't always dependant on Photoshopping wizardry, which is a view that I espouse.

 

Thanks for contributing to the discussion.

 

John (Crosley)

I wish someone would offer up a coherent critique on the balance of masses,the composition and the lightness and darkness of this photo.

 

It seems 'special' in that regard, and there are some specific points I'd like to make, but I'm tired of writing. If after a week passes, and I can still remember it, I'll post something that I think is worthwile about composition here, but let's let someone else have a try.

 

It's a little complex, but not overly so.

 

Anyone else?

 

John (Crosley)

John-

Thanks for taking time to continue the thread. Point of order, though, as I may have been a bit misleading; Micki, with whom you have begun an incredible dialogue, is in fact my wife of 18 years. My daughter, who is 14, is the girl in the house who can spell. Micki is the artist, my daughter is the future lawyer. They are usually at odds these days, as moms and daughters are when one is a teenager.

I hope that you are wrong and that the 3s are not because of racism. I have some photos with NO ONE in them and they receive 3s and my current record is 6 3/3s on my first wedding photo. But, alas, I am most certainly wrong, because humanity is cruel, and race is usually the trump card. But, as the man said, I can dream.

All the best.

fergi

 

Oh, regarding composition of the photo: I don't recall Michaelangelo discussing light and texture of his ceiling portrayal of God and Adam with Pope Julius II. Your photo stands alone without need for explanation. Those who dismiss it do at their loss.

Ahhhh, but this forum is exactly for discussion of things like lighting and composition -- and it's one way in which those with 7 3s get to be top-rated photographers. (Besides, if you haven't looked, I'm no Michaelangelo, and truth be told, I doubt if you or any other Photo.net member is the Pope. . . . ;~))

 

It's not just looking at the images -- imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but there are so many cliches on Photo.net that score highly that imitation may make you a dealer in cliches yourself if you seek high scores.

 

I don't seek high scores -- but I am interested greatly in how 'popular' a particular photo is, and I have scolded the bunch of raters who rated this lowly because I detected the undercurrent of racism, and not because I 'pulled the race card' -- that's left for black politicians and other racial minorities generally, who are on the outs with the public and seeking to cover their unpopularity, or those who have done something wrong (or are accused), and I have done no such thing or had no such status.

 

No, I'm rather a champion, calling it like I see it, and instead of devoting my time to lighting, composition, etc., as a stricter thread might require, I diverted this thread to something I felt was more important, and you and your wife have picked it up, with some aplomb, I must say.

 

As for the photo, it now stands for something -- I will remember it as the photo that triggered the Great Discussion, if nothing else.

 

I still am not sure whether or how much I like Mario, but I still do like this photo very much . . . and I am very pleased to have made your acquaintance . . . already having made your wife's.

 

John (Crosley)