Michael - I have concluded you are still out there, testing the will or observational powers of the morally uptight.

I wish you well on this latest attempt to, well, pierce through the Politically Correct fig-leaf .

Best wishes - Rob C

P.S. What a shame one can´t edit titles! Or can one?

Err... you know, Rob: sometimes a lilly-stalk is just a lilly-stalk

Is it only me or are others out there who don t get it?

It's you.

Don't be cruel. We're supposed to play nicely.

Man, sometimes I think you are the coolest of cats!

Rob C

Good to see you posting again, Rob. Was concerned for a while there that you'd taken off.

To be perfectly honest there was supposed to be a "(Check the front page)" in there. Ctrl-Z can be a harsh mistress.

Cute. I'd never seen it that way. Maybe it is indeed a good analogy to the Lolita nonsense. Not there till someone mentions it, then it sticks out like a....

Michael

Too Funny

The temptation to do so has been there, at times, but when the whole thing is viewed in perspective the positive far outweighs the negative. In fact, the negatives are not really much to do with the site and its photographic direction at all, but with some of the attitudes displayed on occassion - possibly my own, too - where patience vanished into its own point. I have learned quite a lot from this space - the Tutorials, for example, have helped a lot at various stages of my learning curve which, for a fairly ancient film-educated pro, has been (still is) fairly steep.

I don´t feel it´s right to use the site´s content without putting something else back in - all I can offer is a little bit of experience in the old ways and very little of the new. I do enjoy the odd argument or two but always get saddened when folks take it all too personally and decamp; there is far more to be gained by simply staying on and putting one´s point of view on life and photography out to view on occassion - one can´t expect the world and its wife to agree with everything, but where one thinks they have both got it wrong then why not explain just what makes one think so?

The main stumbling block, I expect, will always be religious opinion because it works on the basis of faith and not proof. There is no sensible way of dealing with that, other than to accept it. However, sometimes that isn´t enough and more is expected than one is willing to give. On that point, I´m really sorry to find that one or two people whose voice I liked have left...

Rob C

Wow! That's some water lilly! Pity the person hiding behind it is not a water-drenched damsel who has just emerged from the river .

I know, the titles for such a shot just cascade from my imagination...

Rob C

Edit: but then, if behind the lilly, what would be the point of shooting her?

Perhaps a fashion statement. Not many girls (er! young ladies) get the opportunity to dress in a giant water lilly. We could have a full frontal view and a rear view .

Maybe Paris Hilton might model it, just as part of her very taxing social committment to being a better person when she gets sprung.

Rob C

North American baseball fans (and apparently a large number of "exotic dancers") will instantly recognize the person behind the water lily as none other than New York Yankees third baseman Alex (A-Rod) Rodriguez, whose recent off-the-field escapades have been causing quite a stir in these parts. Didn't know Alex hung out (sorry about the pun, but I couldn't resist) in Brazil.

Peter R. Jacobson