Ms. Lollipop

Storms come and go.

This storm dropped a lot of rain. Its winds tore down some branches from weak and dying trees. All in all, it wasn’t as bad as it could be, or the hurricane that so many rumor mongers were posting on social media sites. There was no hurricane. There was even cyclonic winds.

Let’s talk about social media

I wish some people would just shut up. Between fake news, rumors and trolls, most social media is becoming impossible to read. These days, I rarely communicate on any platform except to share photographs.

But, I did get invloved today.

There is a big battle in my former world of photojournalism right now. There is advocacy group that claims to be photojournalists. They aren’t. Most of their thrust is to get non-binary people of all kinds into the forefront of news gathering and editing. They seem to be focusing on print journalism. Most are made up of professors and researchers who have never worked the streets.

A couple of comments.

Do what you want. If newsrooms aren’t diverse enough, go for it. Fix the issue. However, there aren’t many newsrooms left. They seem to be ignoring that.

That’s all good, but they crossed a line for me and many others when they advocated either getting consent from the protesters or blurring their faces.

Huh?

If you choose to protest that’s great. I think you should. But, you are out on the streets to serve a number of purposes, one of which is to generate news. In most cases, they are on public streets. They have no expectation of privacy.

They can’t have it both ways. They can’t raise awareness without being present. I think most of them know it.

Besides, whatever happened to CoVid-19? They aren’t social distancing, but they should be wearing masks. If they are doing that, the notion of privacy — however wrongheaded it is — should be covered.

One more little point.

If you have never worked the streets, and haven’t worked in crowds, you have no idea what photographers go through. Even in my current world, when I photograph New Orleans cultural events, I liken it to being in the middle of a rugby scrum. Until you do that, you don’t know.

As a wise man once taught me, “Those who know don’t speak. Those who speak don’t know.” I’ve focused on this one issue, but doesn’t that sound like all social media?

The picture

I wanted something lighter. I realized that I’ve been posting very dark pictures. I made this picture using a couple of different kinds of post production techniques. I combined elements to make my normal “Need a subject, stick a powerline in the picture,” a little different. Well, a lot different.

While I was looking at the picture, I noticed the reason we have so many power failures. Well, of of the reasons.

Check out the power lines right where they start to curve. Sure. That looks safe. Right.

Stay safe. Stay mighty. Enjoy every taco.