anarchism

As my last post indicates, I don’t play well with authorities, except my own. This goes way back to grade school. We had to say the pledge of allegiance before class started, and in some cases back then, the lord’s prayer. There was always a voice in the back of my mind asking what does this have to do with reading, writing and arithmetic, and of course the answer was nothing. It was all part of the indoctrination created for the public school environment, which was designed to foster good and obedient citizens. That has not changed. Then the state would double down on that by teaching a sanitized pro American version of history, serious propaganda laced programming for young minds. And of course it was mostly bullshit. That hasn’t changed either, and may be getting worse in some states.

I evolved quickly out of that, especially when the civil rights movement started, and then of course came the Vietnam War. Protests, marches and all of that happened, which really pissed off the ultimate authority figures in my life, the parents.

So, I have a history of questioning authority, or perceived authority, no matter the environment, and that includes photography. I have a habit of poking photography authorities online, even calling out some who I follow or have followed. If you are spouting off on some “rule” of making photos, or some regimented “how to”, just because that is the way it has always been done, or the way some famous photographers have done it in the past, I’m more likely to call bullshit than I am to buy into it. It’s just who I am. It’s a character flaw, or just a trait I can’t escape from at this point in my life. At 71, there are no urban renewal projects in the offing. It’s all I can do to maintain at this level of anarchy without further escalation.

Cheers!