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Photos Can't Escape It, Either



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 25th 05, 05:32 AM
Paul McAleer
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Default Photos Can't Escape It, Either

Photos Can't Escape It, Either

A while back here on BFB, I pointed out that even a photo of a fat person
on a stock photo site could garner negative comments. I posted a comment
calling the other people on the carpet, and there's been nothing there
since.

So it was interesting to me to see this image
http://www.manipulation.com/003312.php . All told, it's a nice photo -
great colors, nice aesthetics. Take a look in the comments, and you'll see
some great stuff. Like, "That fat lady is obnoxious and it makes the pic
ugly." And my favorite, "wow, that is quite the gastrapod."

Now if you will, take a spin over here
http://www.bluejake.com/archives/2005/01/19/chile_3.php . Again, very nice
photos. Someone in the comments decides, though, to call one of the kids in
the photo a "lard ass."

The thing that infuriates me about this is that these are just
photobloggers sharing their work, and even that genre of website can't
escape fat discrimination and dumbass, uneducated comments. It's
frustrating to see these photos and think that the only things some people
come away with are, "Wow, look at that fat!" or "What a fat ass!" or
similar.

Photography, like other arts, has the potential to shape and mold peoples'
worldviews. Fat positive photography is out there, but frankly the
"headless fat woman" sells more. So what needs to be done to get a more
positive image out there? And what do we do, besides commenting back, to
fight this kind of gross ignorance?



  #2  
Old January 25th 05, 05:44 AM
Canongirly
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whatever
  #3  
Old January 25th 05, 06:10 AM
Ben Thomas
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Paul McAleer wrote:

The thing that infuriates me about this is that these are just
photobloggers sharing their work, and even that genre of website can't
escape fat discrimination and dumbass, uneducated comments. It's
frustrating to see these photos and think that the only things some people
come away with are, "Wow, look at that fat!" or "What a fat ass!" or
similar.


It's human nature to find faults with others and to try to boost one's ego.

That said, there's nothing healthy about being fat.



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  #4  
Old January 25th 05, 01:12 PM
Owamanga
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On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 05:10:03 GMT, Ben Thomas
wrote:

Paul McAleer wrote:

The thing that infuriates me about this is that these are just
photobloggers sharing their work, and even that genre of website can't
escape fat discrimination and dumbass, uneducated comments. It's
frustrating to see these photos and think that the only things some people
come away with are, "Wow, look at that fat!" or "What a fat ass!" or
similar.


It's human nature to find faults with others and to try to boost one's ego.


I think ego is a society thing. It's not core to our survival, but
being wary / disgusted by fat people is.

That said, there's nothing healthy about being fat.


Indeed, the reason people respond to fat people like that is far
beyond anything society did to us. It's human nature - the thing that
(used to) keeps us alive (before society took over). The instant
reaction most people have when coming in close contact with dead
people, fat people or diseased people is that we find it revolting.

Dead people can mean that something in the area is dangerous to
humans, we find it naturally scary and don't want to stay there. This
is self-preservation.

Extremely fat people are useless for mating, are also larger than you
and are possibly more capable of doing you harm.

Diseased people are also possibly dangerous to be in contact with.

Society actually tries to change these completely natural reactions
(that you can see repeated in nature with other species). Of course,
anyone can be de-sensitzed / trained / indoctrinated not to respond in
this way, but it's always there in the background. As photographers,
we should be aware of how the subject can affect the emotion of the
viewer and so I wouldn't consider it off-topic for a general
photography NG.

--
Owamanga!
  #5  
Old January 25th 05, 01:12 PM
Owamanga
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On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 05:10:03 GMT, Ben Thomas
wrote:

Paul McAleer wrote:

The thing that infuriates me about this is that these are just
photobloggers sharing their work, and even that genre of website can't
escape fat discrimination and dumbass, uneducated comments. It's
frustrating to see these photos and think that the only things some people
come away with are, "Wow, look at that fat!" or "What a fat ass!" or
similar.


It's human nature to find faults with others and to try to boost one's ego.


I think ego is a society thing. It's not core to our survival, but
being wary / disgusted by fat people is.

That said, there's nothing healthy about being fat.


Indeed, the reason people respond to fat people like that is far
beyond anything society did to us. It's human nature - the thing that
(used to) keeps us alive (before society took over). The instant
reaction most people have when coming in close contact with dead
people, fat people or diseased people is that we find it revolting.

Dead people can mean that something in the area is dangerous to
humans, we find it naturally scary and don't want to stay there. This
is self-preservation.

Extremely fat people are useless for mating, are also larger than you
and are possibly more capable of doing you harm.

Diseased people are also possibly dangerous to be in contact with.

Society actually tries to change these completely natural reactions
(that you can see repeated in nature with other species). Of course,
anyone can be de-sensitzed / trained / indoctrinated not to respond in
this way, but it's always there in the background. As photographers,
we should be aware of how the subject can affect the emotion of the
viewer and so I wouldn't consider it off-topic for a general
photography NG.

--
Owamanga!
  #6  
Old January 25th 05, 02:07 PM
Big Betty
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On Tue, 25 Jan 2005, Ben Thomas wrote:

That said, there's nothing healthy about being fat.


Fat protects against cancer.



  #8  
Old January 25th 05, 03:56 PM
Larry Bud
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The thing that infuriates me about this is that these are just
photobloggers sharing their work, and even that genre of website

can't
escape fat discrimination and dumbass, uneducated comments.


What's uneducated about pointing out a fat person in the photo?

It's
frustrating to see these photos and think that the only things some

people
come away with are, "Wow, look at that fat!" or "What a fat ass!" or
similar.


People want to get a good feeling when looking at photos. Most people
don't get a good feeling looking at a fat person. It's the science of
attraction at work.

"headless fat woman" sells more. So what needs to be done to get a

more
positive image out there? And what do we do, besides commenting back,

to
fight this kind of gross ignorance?


There's nothing ignorant about it. People are attracted to what
they're attracted to. If you want more positive comments, shoot pretty
people.

  #9  
Old January 25th 05, 04:50 PM
Jer
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Larry Bud wrote:


People want to get a good feeling when looking at photos. Most people
don't get a good feeling looking at a fat person. It's the science of
attraction at work.


So, the implication of this seems to say that people like a photo of
someone else only if they're attracted to a person in the photo. If
this implication has any foundation under it, then I would strongly
suggest that adults refrain from looking at photos of children, lest
they be attracted to the child.


--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'
  #10  
Old January 25th 05, 05:26 PM
Owamanga
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On Tue, 25 Jan 2005 09:50:03 -0600, Jer wrote:

Larry Bud wrote:


People want to get a good feeling when looking at photos. Most people
don't get a good feeling looking at a fat person. It's the science of
attraction at work.


So, the implication of this seems to say that people like a photo of
someone else only if they're attracted to a person in the photo. If
this implication has any foundation under it, then I would strongly
suggest that adults refrain from looking at photos of children, lest
they be attracted to the child.


I think you've introduced the notion of *sexual* attraction. Children
are attractive to most people, without being *sexually* attractive.

Youth is attractive, just like a flower is. There is nothing to be
ashamed of. Its not illegal or immoral.

The vast majority of babies are the most attractive members of the
human race, and often have no signs of gender (so they are asexual).
Partly because they have big eyes, and partly because are the least
threatening.

Generally, young people are more attractive than old, females are more
attractive than males and healthy looking people are more attractive
than jabba-the-huts. This is true regardless of your age, dimension or
sexual orientation.

--
Owamanga!
 




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