Say What!?

Bay Bridge- Photo: S.Banos

The amount of tension, mistrust and underlying bigotry can be rather apparent in online discussions in various photographic forums when the subject of minority representation in professional or art photography is discussed (however inadequately and infrequently). But I must say even I was taken aback a few years ago when I encountered the rampant, in your face hate and racism propagated in more public online forums. No code words, no well honed political doublespeak. And it just wasn't the odd solitary guy standing in the corner of the virtual room by himself; it was the whole mighty chorus, each trying to out do the vile, profane, degenerate racist tirade of the previous commenter, and to a large part, they were in fact, succeeding- dragging the "conversation" yet further into the depths of monosyllabic hate and kill babble.

So whenever I walk the streets, I find myself (more than ever) asking who those strangers writing those "comments" might be. I know they don't all look like hideously deformed hate demons, I know they don't live in one solitary enclave- I know that we walk and live amongst them each and every day...