Door Tuesday ~ Seven Days Outside

Hi, i read your update and i'm wondering what else i could write about subjects like this. I photograph a lot of things like doors and windows and rusty things and there often is no story beyond the location. Sometimes with a historic site there's more but i often focus on the everyday things that people walk right by a thousand times and don't even notice. This house is just one of thousands if not a million or more like it in Southern California. It's an older style that i tend to shoot a lot of just because i like them. I don't think of this shot as an award winning ultra dramatic showstopper but i do think it has a charm and value. maybe that value is only to me. I Don't think photography, painting and sports type shots are less than blogs here or need to have a story attached to it every time. This is a difficult topic to address for me.

I have been taking surf photo's for 50 years for example and i post them here with very little explanation or story. Are they popular and get lots of votes? No. They do not. Thats ok with me because i think they are good and i think they add value to steemit even if absolutely no one else does. Sometimes i wish i could explain this easily and quickly. I could say what i'm talking about in a conversation in a few minutes but trying to write it down is difficult. How many stories can i make up about going to the beach and surfing? I know that there are super popular people here who do that. I'm not a beginner at any of these things and i have been doing what might appear on the surface to be the same thing over and over and over and over. Well that's what artists and musicians and photographers do. Variations on a theme. Constantly repeating the same words to describe things bores me. The images do not. As a person who doesn't do "how to" posts that leaves the image as itself. Subtlety seems to have no place on steemit. I try to follow photographers and artists here and see the work. I realize that EVERYONE sees steemit as a storytelling and writing platform with images as an add on and not a central focus. That's unfortunate in many ways. Your contest is something i really enjoy. Everyday i look for things that fit a category - sometimes i forget and think "oh i have to go back there" I thought i had found a place to post some of my odd and perhaps unloveable photo's. Now i would like to say that if you have read this far thank you and my comment is about steemit as a whole and not so much your contest - which is one of my favorites.

Imagine if a super successful famous painter like Picasso or David Hockney came on steemit when he was 70 or 80 years old. A painter (Picasso) who created over 50, 000 works in his life and he started posting and was told he had to write a story about every post? He did hundreds of paintings late in his life in a studio that were him, the canvas, and the model. That's it. Over and over. They all looked different but were also very similar. Hockney painted his dog over and over. Would they be told they were wrong and needed to go elsewhere? That steemit was not for him? How many times could they invent a pure fantasy story to please the writers? This entire thing is absurd. Sorry if steemit has decided what quality content is and it's so exclusionary and yet so powerfully presented as what makes it better than every other website.

Many creative people create in a space where there isn't thinking and story. A flow space where all the shit and noise in your head goes away. I know that's how it is for me. Sure there are ideas and goals in the start of anything but i want to forget them and on good days that's exactly what happens and the work just goes like magic. Afterwards i don't want to write about that same flow and creation every time i post. So you could argue that i don't belong on steemit.

Everyone is told what steemit is and what it isn't and everyone agrees. Or do they? Well, it's too late for me. I foolishly let a friend convince me to join here and to invest money. That made it fun being able vote and contribute to people but i also have lost much of that money because i didn't know that i was buying steem at the highest price it had ever been. Not smart of me. I should probably delete this post because i don't think i was able to express my point of view very well and my frustration is clouding it up a lot.

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erikah (72) · 6 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to write this down to me! I'm going to reply from my PC shortly. It's not easy to write a longer reply from a smartphone and don't worry, everything is ok, you just keep talking photos for the contest and keep posting. Be back soon.

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erikah (72) · 6 years ago

Here I am with a longer explanation. I'm sorry you took it the wrong way and misunderstood my message. The new update is a general one, was not made specifically because of you. That day I posted the link to most of the participants to let people know about the new update.

I can understand your frustration. This update was my decision for a very good reason. I love this contest and I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one. People were happy to find out about it and I've seen so many good entries along the short period of the contest. Unfortunately there are people who don't seem to understand or just don't care about rules and quality. There was a case when a user posted a huge rusty garbage can just because it was rustartwednesday. In these cases I have no other choice than to let them know this is not the purpose of the contest. Others can't be bothered to say one single word about the photo they are posting. They copy and paste the conditions from my post, use the daily tags as a title and that's it!

I understand what you've said about this, I really do but in many cases the photo does not speak for itself, and in many cases I'm wondering where it is or what it is. It's frustrating, believe me. I have an obligation to keep the challenge clean. I don't want it to become a garbage can for everyone. This will always be always a topic for discussion and some will be for, some against. I'm fine with that.

Let's get back to you! You've said: "This house is just one of thousands if not a million or more like it in Southern California. It's an older style that i tend to shoot a lot of just because i like them. I don't think of this shot as an award winning ultra dramatic showstopper but i do think it has a charm and value. maybe that value is only to me." This is excellent and enough. A couple of information along with your opinion.
In conclusion, I understand your frustration, sorry for your not exactly fortunate investment. You're doing fine, just keep up the good work. Starting on Monday, there will be a weekly spotlight to feature the best photos (in my opinion) of the week. So stay tuned. English is not my first language, I hope you understand what I'm saying.
I'm happy to have you in the challenge!

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rossfletcher (69) · 6 years ago

Hi Erikah, Thank you for your kind reply. Your English is better than mine! Thanks again for the contest :)

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erikah (72) · 6 years ago

My pleasure and I'm glad you're not mad and quitting :)

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erikah (72) · 6 years ago

Your post has been featured in this week's Spotlight! Congratulations! Spotlight 4th - 10 of June 2018 - SevenDaysOutside Challenge

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