Hey guys,
This is something that I have been meaning to post for a while, sort of the outward manifestation of an internal debate that I have been having for a little over a month now. Over that period, I have noticed some really disappointing trends and activities amongst a number of aviation photography groups around the country, and I guess I wanted to get your guys' thoughts on perhaps where we sit as a community (not meaning just NYCAv, but as a WHOLE).
The first thing I have noticed moreso as of late is a spirit of outright hostility and competition between fellow photographers, and especially between established photographers and new and/or budding photographers/enthusiasts. And I am not talking about things where huge amounts of money in photo sales are at risk. I am talking about deliberately witholding information about things other members of the community might enjoy, or I kid you not, posting deliberate disinformation to obstruct other people. More concerning has been a desire to not share basic stuff like the location of perfectly acceptable, public spotting locations with new people who might want to come out and watch the action.It appears almost as a clique-ish, us versus them mentality, where as people who can tell an MD-87 from an MD-88 that we are somehow entitled to something, whereas a person who doesn't know that KAPA is Centennial Airport in Denver is somehow inferior and must be kept out. I remember starting out and being able to message people at new airports and get answers with info, now it seems I increasingly see people discuss ways of obfuscating places as publicly OK as Udvar Hazy and Founder's Plaza.
Second is a proliferation of a "me-first, me-second" type mindset. As a known moderator of another aviation site, I got dragged into a debacle involving a statewide spotting group out West. At question was the ways the owners of the group were trading away the ability of their members to post photos of aircraft in exchange for greater access to the airport for "airside" opportunities. It seems that increasingly, in contrast to the great work done by Phil et al here, individuals are interested in securing their access at the expense of the group.
Lastly is just a matter of content and tone in how we deal with one another. Over the past 6 weeks I have been called things ranging from "a traitor worse than Snowden" for posting photos of military aircraft taken at public airfields from public property, and had my work disparaged by any of a number of fellow "spotters" for lord knows what reasons. I know we all have friends in the hobby, and we all have spotters who might not be our favorite people in the world, but I feel like as people who all share something in common-namely this hobby- and given the extreme difficulty faced by those pursuing it in some places (cough...cough EWR), perhaps our efforts could be better spent that tearing one another down for sport.
I am certainly not alleging anyone in this group has been doing any of this. To be honest I kinda consider this place to be the last bastion of people who aren't acting in the ways I described above. I just wanted to put some of this out there so that perhaps people will be thinking about it. I know for me this kind of stuff, and the outright hostility I have seen directed at me and my friends, is the reason why I have decided to hang up the gear for a while and focus elsewhere... and I know others who feel the same. In closing I just wondered if other people had noticed some of this behavior, and hoped perhaps when one is tempted to fire off a snarky note about anothers' work or ignore genuine requests for help or info from others that it really can have an impact on our hobby as a whole.
[/rant]
Nick
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