I’ve been working on the edit for the first print issue of Street Reverb and wanted to use the photograph above. Since the photographer only has a Flickr page, that’s the way I had to contact him. I sent off an email. A week passed. No response. I tried again. No response.
It’s really rare that I don’t receive a response from someone I contact on Flickr, so I started to wonder. Going back to his stream I noticed the last upload was from August 9, 2007. I think it’s fair to say that he’s given up on Flickr. I started to get a bit annoyed. Why would anyone do this? Just abandon an account like this? Why would they not leave any other contact information? As I started to get a bit upset, I caught myself.
What was wrong with me? Why did I feel entitled to any sort of explanation? I caught my thoughts and began to think about the situation. Maybe photography was simply a phase for him and now he’s moved on. Maybe his family or job leave him little time for his hobbies. Or worse, maybe he’s passed on.
It’s not uncommon for people to ‘quit’ social networking sites like Facebook and Flickr, but usually these people are using their true identities and have other ways to contact them. I certainly don’t begrudge anyone for leaving social networks, but in the case of photographers or other artists, it creates an interesting scenario because they’re essentially abandoning their creative output as well.
In the case of Flickr, I’m certain there are thousands of abandoned accounts with thousands and thousands of photographs. What becomes of all these photographs? Nothing I suppose or maybe they’ll eventually just evaporate into cyberland, never to be seen again.
If I were more ambitious, and wanted to take on another project, I think it’d be interesting to set up a Tumblr for abandoned Flicrk accounts. Something like, “Has anyone seen this photographer? Gone Missing on August 9, 2007. Please contact the email below.”
Scott M. if you’re out there, I hope you’re doing well. Also, we’d like to use your photo in issue #1 of Street Reverb Magazine. If it’s not a problem, we need a high resolution photo. 3,000 pixels on the longest side will due. Thanks!
Related Posts
By Bryan Formhals
By Bryan Formhals
By Bryan Formhals
By Bryan Formhals