Have you found Flickr?
Published by Ken Scott on 7th August 2007, 11:51: Tag Photography
After spending many, many long hours into many nights building TTL, I didn’t think I’d be coming on to talk about a community-based photo sharing website. But I am, ‘cos I found Flickr and I like it.
Now I do explore many more avenues of photography than mountain light and landscapes alone. But they often don’t fit with TTL. And I often find myself wanting to share more photos than I could maintain on TTL, after a trip with friends, for example. Here’s where Flickr comes in handy, because I can offer a valuable companion site for my own photography without diluting the showcase too much. Here’s my Flickr link …
That’s not all. You know when you visit someone’s house, and their bookshelf and CD rack tells you so much about them as a person. Photography tells a similar story. I’m always eager to get behind the photographer to know the person a little more; being able to see the photographer’s work and their own favourite images from other artists is fascinating. Flickr’s Favorites allows you to build your own ‘bookshelf’ of favourite images in a much more visual way than, say, my own Links pages on this site can.
I’ve never been one for community participation online, or for forums or chat rooms or newsgroups, but I have already enjoyed the commenting and sharing on Flickr. I’ve ‘met’ some wonderful people and found some magnificent photography.
Photography on the web is a mixed bag; 80% of the immediately-visible stuff is dross, but look around and the 20% that is great will rise to the surface of this vast ocean of images – an inverse of the iceberg principle perhaps.
Another interesting community feature is the emergence of highly rated or commented images that would be considered pretty ordinary in enthusiast photography circles. Therein lies the beauty of the web, unlike enthusiast photography circles, because there are no boundaries. Individual groups invent their own limits, and sub-communities develop cultural norms. But the world is still available for all to explore, and explore we must with open minds and open hearts.
It seems not to matter if you don’t have the highest profile on Flickr, because you can choose your friends and share with them alone if you wish. Being with friends is what life is about.
Before you all depart Touching the Light in your droves (if anyone is here at all), it will take me a while to get the balance right between the showcases here and the collections over there. So do explore both with me and enjoy.
… Ken
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