Esoteric Portraiture (in Off-topic)

Who, who are these frightening people???

Mem's children

whoa he has children? O.0

O.o He has kids? No way!

They're not Mem's kids. It's Mem in different people suits.

What are you talking about? Those aren't people suits, they're other people!

Nah, can't be.

No one who plays CB hangs out with real people.

Either it's Mem in people suits or he PhotoShop-ed them all.

If only I knew which was the REAL Mem.

How would he be in all these shots (with no obvious places to set the camera on auto-timer for a self-portrait) when he is the one taking the pictures?

This is the real Mem:

O.o Mem, you're a Sesame Street character.

That's Sweetums from the Muppets! Not Sesame Street! You dolt!

This is the real real Mem:

wow hairy bugger aren't you, the Muppet was almost as hairy as you :)

i think we can also say the muppet is hotter than Mem :P

I think the muppet is also taller.

Jack??? You're Mem??

For some reason, that very last picture looks like Richard Hatch from Survivor.

Isn't that Robert Paulson from Fight club in the last photo from the original post?

:)

I'm pretty sure that Meatloaf isn't my friend. Not that I wouldn't want him to be...

Oh, and since everyone is so quick to put down all the people shown here I invite you to also show us a picture of you. I'd love to have a go at you as well.

Take it easy Mem - you're in the 3ft section and it's up to your armpits for crying out loud!

Does that even make sense? Are you trying to say that I'm short? Where's your picture, NSFY? I'd like to take a stab at you as well. Or don't you want to play fair?

Bah! So every time someone puts a picture of themselves naked on the internet, I have to put one of me up before commenting ? I don't think so.

I was making a little joke, but I forgot how pointless that is with naked hairy and possibly short guys. Just promise me you won't go into the deep end without your water wings.

p.s. If you are still mad, maybe you can convince SNK3R that this post is non-PG. He lives for that.

Regards,

NSFY

Enough already, NSFY.

This is the way an ombudsman should act? You're not my ombudsman if that's the case. You needn't look at the pictures if you're offended by them. And you especially needn't say mean and spiteful things about those pictured.

In any event, you've revealed your true nature to me. Now stay out of my posts.

/me was of the hairy type until two days ago lol ... no pics or I'd show off the before and after lol .. I try to not get into a pool unless I've had a razor to me :)

I don't know if I offended anyone with the Meatloaf comment, but--to be fair--I offer up my pictures for judgement. The one for my CB Forum to the left is a little photoshop action of me. More can be found here or even here

I have since cut my hair very short, but anyway: Do your worst, mem!

P.S.: For those not familiar with MySpace (who isn't?) on the first link, click on my photo on the top left for some other photos.

BTW: I felt that the first five shots were pretty great, and the rest of them look like random pictures that anyone wielding a disposable camera and too much time on their hands could take. Except maybe the last one. It seems to have more purpose. So I suppose it's only #8, #7, and #6 in the middle that I don't like.

There are always pics of me on WWSD.

NSFY and VK... I love you guys!

That certainly was a rude comment you made about one of my good friends. He's knows he's large, but he's trying to thin up.

The fact that all I hear are comments made on how disgusting or weird or whatever negative thing you can think of to describe the subjects of these photos tells me that the whole lot of you may as well be wearing pointed white hats or wearing green uniforms emblazoned with swastikas. Just because someone looks different, or is fat or short or bald or hairy or ugly or black or white or latino doesn't make them any less of a person than you are. Stop spreading your messages of hate and hiding behind the guise of a "joke". I know I'm not the easiest sight on the eyes, but I am a human with feelings. I hurt just like the rest of you. Don't joke around in my threads that aren't meant for modeling purposes, but the actual photography.

I liked this community because everyone was always so nice and supportive. Now I'm starting to see that the only reason such a peaceful state existed was because we were all represented by the same thing-- the printed word. When we're all the same such inequities are harder to come by. Now that I've taken that chance at showing my true self I've been burned. It's okay, it's not the first time. I always learn from my mistakes though.

I'm not really a religious man, but one quote from the Bible has always stuck with me-- "For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but don't consider the beam that is in your own eye? Or how will you tell your brother,'Let me remove the speck from your eye;' and behold, the beam is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First remove the beam out of your own eye, and then you can see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye."

The very fact that I should need to say such a thing is incredibly disheartening. This was such a good place...

Mem,

OK, analysis time...

Not that it will do any good, mind you. Since you have already taken such tones as "get off my thread" and such, I'm sure this will be taken poorly as well. I thought for sure you must have been joking until your most recent post...

In any case, I assure you what I am about to provide will try to stick to empirical truths.

In the replies between the original post and you stating "Oh, and since everyone is so quick to put down all the people shown here I invite you to also show us a picture of you. I'd love to have a go at you as well.", the only comments that could be remotely construed as put-downs were one using the word "frightening", one comparing a friend to a character from a movie, and one comparing a friend to a Survivor contestant. We'll toss the comparison ones right out -- making a very valid comparison is NOT a put down. No matter what. One fellow does indeed look like Robert Paulson from the movie "Fight Club", and I can see some Richard Hatch in the pics too. As for BMW's "frightening", I'm pretty sure he was meaning that tongue in cheek (have you asked him? Privately?).

You then go into "defensive mode", as if your post and pictures are somehow sacred. Don't know how to tell you dude, but they aren't. They're just pictures. If they mean that much to you, I suggest you don't post them publicly. And this thread isn't "yours". It is the property of one Jonathan Ellis, our lord and master.

Oh dear. Then comes the Nazi reference. If I recall correctly, the last person to use such a reference in any sort of serious fashion was bandwagoned against so quickly and strongly that he never posted again. It's fine -- he didn't really care. But even _I_ learned not to casually bandy about such references (note: I honestly could not care less if you call the crowd Nazi-loving KKK misogynist baby-eaters who thought 9/11 was a great victory of American imperialist pig-dogs who kill abortion doctors and then perform abortions). In any case, use of the word "swastika" is a very evident escalation, and you appear to be the only one on the escalator.

The very fact that you felt the nead to speak out thusly is indeed disheartening, as you yourself conclude. I always thought of you as quite level-headed and not prone to any such outburst. I have truly been disheartened on that count. It took an otherwise niec group of pictures and made sure to have their presentation ruined.

I think your pictures are great and that your friends seem like a nice crew. I am quite certain that VK and NSFY feel the same way (because I know them, and there is absolutely nothing in this thread to dictate otherwise). For whatever reason, you have fabricated drama here. That's probably understandable, since for some reason you think you "own" the thread.

Good luck with your continuing photographic endeavors, Mem. You might want to find someplace else to post your work, though. Maybe someplace you actually DO have jurisdiction over?

Sincerely,
Sutekh T. Destroyer (pictures available upon request)

I would like to point out that at no time did I ever call anyone a member of the KKK or a Nazi. I simply said certain people were acting in a manner befitting the beforementioned. Make what you will of that.

Since it's quite apparent that Sut is the Moral Titan around these parts I'll say no more save this-- Know that I won't forget what you said, not about my pictures, but about myself and my friends. Expect the same treatment in kind.

That's exactly it, Mem!. The comments were about the _pictures_ and the _presentation_ of said pictures. Not about you or your friends. People were making comparisons and juxtapositions based on the frozen time, not on the character of you or your comrades.

Nice back-track by the way...use the word "swastika" and then call ME out for pointing out that it was a Nazi reference? Last I checked, there aren't a lot of other off-the-top-of-the-head connotations to the gorgeous twisted cross that I am aware of. And of course I didn't attribute KKK to you, silly. _I_ said it, in a very, scathingly funny, over-the-top bit! I am very, very, exceedingly funny and witty! And scathing! Scathingly funny and witty! Just because I love the KKK has nothing to do with this!

(That's a joke. The KKK has _everything_ to do with this.)

(That joke was a joke. The KKK does, in fact, suck. They are a bunch of "pracks". HAH! Can't fine me! *dances in fake parachute pants*)

Have you ever heard of artistic detachment? That the subject matter of the art can, in fact, be kept completely separate from the art (and its influence) itself?

Imagine if you had shown us out-of-focus pictures (you didn't, the pictures are superb, I'll say it again), and someone said, "Your friends look all fuzzy", would you harrumph and stomp and get angry that someone was commenting on lens and distance issues? Of course not.

And no, I am not a Moral Titan. But I am a Consistency Titan. I do, however, like the Moral Titan concept. Can you post that over on the boasting thread? *smile*

I know this isn't really my place to say this, and I don't want to get any tempers flared up again, but I'm really saddened to see like, 7 of the nicest and smartest people I know on CB getting into a really heated scrap. Mem when I read your long post I had this sinking feeling, like it was somehow the beginning of the end of something. I really hope nothing permanent comes out of this. And note I'm on noone's side here. I won't even get into the thing about the pictures. I just hope noone does anything drastic over this. Why can't we all just get along? Mem you were one of the first people on CB to be nice to me. Sutekh is just plain hilarious. Come on, guys.


By the way, mem, I love the 2nd to last picture, with the black guy dressed as superman. He seems like a cool guy. That's something I would take a picture of. :)

I'm not one who usually accepts someone putting words in my mouth, (that's just bad for your personal hygiene, let alone your reputation!) but Sutekh really said it best with this:

"People were making comparisons and juxtapositions based on the frozen time, not on the character of you or your comrades. "

Who am I kidding? Sutekh always says it best. Even when he's giving you the worst.

I'm not going to lie to you, however, by telling you that I didn't think my little comparison was funny. It was sooooo funny. But you have to ask yourself:

"Hey, Self, let me ask you something: 'Self, this guy just compared my friend to a successful actor/rock star. Is that really so bad? If so.... why do you care what other people think? We really need to re-think what we've been thinking about, Self... Really....' *cough*swastika*cough."

Okay, you can leave out the last word coughed under your breath while you are quizzing yourself. If you can. I just put it there to make the dialogue sound more "Mem."

If you should wish to continue on in this vein of thought you should do so in another thread. This thread is for constructive criticism of the pictures originally posted here.

As an aside: I have to admit that I did not fully understand the definition of the word "esoteric." Shame on me. So, for those just as crude as I:

esoteric
1. a) Intended for or understood by only a particular group: an esoteric cult. See Synonyms at "mysterious."
b) Of or relating to that which is known by a restricted number of people.

2. a) Confined to a small group: esoteric interests.
b) Not publicly disclosed; confidential.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 28 Aug. 2006. Dictionary.com

Nifty. Now the meaning of the photos is even more eluding.

Especially when you stare at the pose the guy second-to-last-from-the-back in the last photo is striking.

In fact, now that I am thoroughly informed, and armed with Dictionary dot com's wisdom.... every single photo is haunting. Look at them. Each one of them has a secret. And they all know that they are the only people who are in on it.

Their faces are all smiling, yet serious. The female is the most talented of them all. Not a shred of a tell on her face. All smiles...

I much prefer this meaning: of special, rare, or unusual interest (taken from webster.com), but there's certainly merit to the definitions that VK has so duly mentioned. It is, in fact, why I chose to name it so. Portraits are always esoteric in nature, after all.

And what better way to appreciate that esoteric nature by letting comments flow freely! I guess those Founding Fathers had it right with all that "freedom of speech" nonsense!

"Black Superman" is also a wonderful song by a decent artist named Jude. First thing I thought of... I love art that makes me think, or at least remember things.