Confederate Soldier in image (Page 11): ...the missing, the Jews who were the professors, musicians and just ordinary people..." Yes, for sure. This is something I heard of just about...

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

therwol wrote:

90% of this thread is off topic, but since you men... (show quote)

...the missing, the Jews who were the professors, musicians and just ordinary people..." Yes, for sure. This is something I heard of just about every day as I was going up. Nonetheless, I had friends of German background in high school, college, and in the army and never tended to blame them for the Holocaust. Unexpectedly landing in Germany was, at the time, at first, brought on a somewhat strange expectation of somethg negative. It was a pleasant sutprise- there I was wit my name tag on my jacket, being well recienv by folks in general.

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

If their decision conflicts with your own personal values, tell them thanks but no thanks.

Mark

Phil Yasskin Loc: Huntington Beach, CA

Save your image of the Confederate Soldier. I’m sure you will have another opportunity to present it.

Phil Yasskin Loc: Huntington Beach, CA

I would save the confederate Soldier image for another opportunity and put the issue aside.

Tony G.

A soldier is a controversial figure always. Being a Vietnam veteran, I received thanks, respect, hate, disrespect and ignorance. Unfortunately, even some people in my own country gave me grief for my service. A soldier fights for his homeland's beliefs and goals. A soldier fights the enemy but the soldier is the enemy from the other side. The only common denominator is hate on both sides of the conflict no matter who wins. The picture of a confederate soldier statue can bring out memories of hate on both sides of the Civil War. It is not the Confederate soldier that is problem it is the what the viewer sees what the soldier fought for. Pictures and symbols can cause a lot of problems when tied to history. I support the hospital for not using your picture but do not take it personally. Your picture is probably perfect for another setting and context.

RodeoMan Loc: St Joseph, Missouri

scubadoc wrote:

What this country has lost is the ability to have respectful debates without resorting to ad hominem attacks against those with whom you disagree. We must be able to respect differences of opinion without resorting to gaslighting, name calling, and even violent attacks. Social media has likely furthered the decline of honest debate, as it fosters tribalism where there is no room for meaningful dialogue.

I agree. Our "arguments" about whatever the subject is should engage each other in the middle of the table between us. This requires that we do not launch personal attacks against the other fellow, and just as importantly, not to feel that every criticism of one's position is a personal attack.

Nickaroo

Jklovell wrote:

I’m feeling a little deflated at the moment and wo... (show quote)

Stay calm while reading my Comment as I'am not trying to be disrespectful. First and Foremost you let them pick the Photos, well you know how politically correct things are today and every person out there will use it when they choose. If I plan on letting someone pick Photos from my Website, you can bet that I will look over every Shot that I plan on letting them pick some shot that will open the door for someone not wanting a certain pic due to the Fact That They Just Found Religion the Day Before. Don't You Remember all of The Confederate Flag and Statues that have been abolished in D.C. and across the Nation? I would have took that Photo out of my Set of Shots that they planned on looking at, and it would made me look like a Tornado just hit that shot. I'm sorry that you got hurt by what they did to you, but this is on you, not them. The Customer is always right, like it or not. I feel for You and I would save the Photo for myself and put it on my wall behind the Bar in my Man-Cave. Just think that if that Photo wasn't there, this would have been a total success. So You got stung because some idiot actually realized that You Photo could have become a hot potato if it's hanging on the wall and they just want to find something to scream about. These days you have got to look at something and think hard about something going sideways on you. I worked a job where if I did not read the situation in order to react, then it was lights out. I really look at things at a certain way and I accept that every once in awhile I might make a mistake but then I remember that one time where I got bitten, I know how I will be playing the situation. Plus, You have to stay on solid ground and take a punch to the gut. Things are always going to pop up, I was born on a ship when my Parents escaped and Survived the Holocaust and we settled in Queens N.Y. and we stayed there and it was a great life, but at the age of 14, my Father wanted better for Our Family. So, we moved to Michigan so I could plan on College and I did. I learned a lot from Men and My Father's Life on the streets and we really had to move because I was following my Father's Footsteps and he did not want that for me. I wish You All Of The Success That this World has to offer. I know that you are a very good Man. They knock You Down, then You Spring up like a Rocket and punch them in the gut with a Signed Contract and shove it down their throat.

Nickaroo

Phil Yasskin wrote:

Save your image of the Confederate Soldier. I’m sure you will have another opportunity to present it.

I just finished up telling Him how I would Hang it up behind my Bar in my Man-Cave.

joecichjr Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA

E.L.. Shapiro wrote:

No need to apologize, I was not offended- just as you said, bad memories. I have no issues with going off-topic. In normal conversation, folks will oftentimes drift into other related or non-related subjects. That is what friends, colleagues and regular folks do. It's what makes life and relationships more pleasant.

As for Vietnam- after all these years, I still don't know what we were doing there. I knew about the Geneva Accords, but as a simple grunt, my take is that the French got the hell out of there and we went back and stuck our noses into the Vieninimases' business. We all know it did not end well. After my first tour, I was issued a IED, not an improvised explosive device, but an Involuntary Extension of Duty. I was part of a small technical crew that could not be immediately replaced. In a way, I did not want to leave my crew. I was put in charge of the group and there were a few new guys that had no idea what they were into. I was slated for 12 more months but after 10 months, a not-to-the-bad gunshot wound and a case of malaria I was medivaced out of the zone, flown to a hospital in, would you believe, West Germany. I did one week in the hospital and was issued a 30-day furlough. I travel around the country in uniform, was well received by the people, gained back 10 pounds- great food, never ran into a Nazi, and came home and served as an instructor for my last 6- months.

Before I was discharged, they pinned some fruit salad all on my shirt, asked me to re-up, and offer me OTC. I would go from sp/5 to Lieutenant, I would get a pay raise, and who knows, someday, they, the guys for the recruitment department, said I could eventually become a Colonel or maybe even a General. After all, they pointed out, that General David Sarnoff and Admiral Hyman Rickover were Jewish too. I gracefully declined and went home!

Io my first job interview, the H.R. guy asked m if I ever killed anyone in Vietnam. I said, "Absolutely, not! I went there to learn the language and culture, and the Pho and barbequed pork were to DIE for, yoy EXPLATIVE***%##%$$**@*&*! Two months later, I moved to Canada!

No need to apologize, I was not offended- just as ... (show quote)

JimBart Loc: Western Michigan

As a friend of mine once told me when I was doing something for someone…. Don’t remember if I was paid or not but immaterial. He said…. “ Put up and shut up.. remember the customer is ALWAYS right if not illegal” If you want more business then deliver.

Stephan G

Tony G. wrote:

A soldier is a controversial figure always. Being... (show quote)

When it comes down to it, the choice will always be subjective and subject to the one(s) who have the final say-so. Also, connotations have more bearing than actual definitions. Personal prejudices are mixed in the caldron. The issue presented has no bearing regarding as to who has the right to demand anything regarding the subject of the photos.

"Hate on both sides" is a generalization that is simplistic in its structure. I lived between two men who were on opposite sides, with similar mirror war experience. Nicholas, a Ukrainian, was drafted and placed in the Soviet navy during WWII. His ship was attacked by the German navy and captured. He spent the remaining time in a POW camp in Germany. My other neighbor, Frank, a German who was drafted and placed in the field in the German army. He was wounded and captured by the Soviets and placed in a POW camp in Poland. The two of them did not meet until late 1970s in Atlanta, Ga. The two soldiers, from opposing sides, became the best friends to each other. Granted a single example, but I have met and talked to survivors from several theaters of operation around the world.

My observation is that more often the "hate" is in the mind of one who has no personal knowledge or connection.

mikeroetex Loc: Lafayette, LA

JD750 wrote:

I think the idea here is to respect the soldier. They were Americans. The monuments were erected in a more tolerant time.

While that’s a very kind posture, as someone who grew up in the Deep South I can tell you that many of the monuments were erected in 1910-1930’s as lingering protests against Reconstruction era. The state flags that still captured the Stars and Bars were the same. If the idea was to honor all the Americans who fought in the war I believe we would also see statues of Grant and Sherman in Atlanta. 😂

therwol Loc: USA

mikeroetex wrote:

While that’s a very kind posture, as someone who grew up in the Deep South I can tell you that many of the monuments were erected in 1910-1930’s as lingering protests against Reconstruction era. The state flags that still captured the Stars and Bars were the same. If the idea was to honor all the Americans who fought in the war I believe we would also see statues of Grant and Sherman in Atlanta. 😂

I grew up in Alabama in the 60s and left when I was 18 to go to college, though I continued to visit my parents into the 90s when they passed away. I can tell you that for many people I grew up around, Lee's surrender did not reflect a defeat but rather a setback. The Civil War was covered in great detail in American History in high school, more than any other topic. It was taught from a "What if..?" point of view. What if the Confederates had continued on to Washington DC after the first Battle of Bull Run? What if Lee hadn't made that one little mistake at Gettysburg? What if? What if? It's ironic that Lincoln's assassination did as much to harm the South after the war as the war itself. He was publicly in favor of reconciliation, and that isn't what happened.

gwilliams6

As someone who has done this for over 48 years professionally, my best advice to you is get over it, and get over yourself and your hurt feelings. I say that with kindness as if you are in this business long enough, some editor, some CEO, some client will hurt your feelings about your hard work

The customer is always right, even if they change their mind.

As our society is always changing and evolving to be more respectful of ALL its citizens, expect things that were acceptable in the past, to not be acceptable now.

There is no longer a MLB baseball team in Cleveland called the Indians, there is no longer a NFL football team in D.C. called the Redskins . I lived in both those cities and grew up with those teams.

The Confederacy and its symbols bring back the American shame of hundreds of years of brutal slavery, and its root at the cause of a brutal war that almost dissolved our nation over race. The Confederacy is still very painful for millions of Americans.

It is time to heal and to respect all in our multi-racial population. But our race problem still festers and explodes across our nation. The latest news has 10 more dead in a "racial domestic terrorism shooting" (as stated by Police and Government officials) in Buffalo, NY, perpetrated by a man angry at what he saw as "whites being replaced", not my words, but his words in his own manifesto.

Losing one photo out of an exhibit is minor in the life of any photographer. The rest of the shots are still in right ? I am sure when you took the shot you had no other thoughts but to make the best photo you could.

Be happy and proud that your shots will be handsomely displayed . In my career I can't even count all the thousands of my good shots that got edited out as being politically incorrect, inappropriate, insensitive ,sexual suggestive, etc. I have learned to roll with the punches and move on and never stop creating.

I have made and had published countless shots covering NASCAR races and even fashion shoots that included the Confederate flag, and those flags are no longer allowed at NASCAR events, and IMHO that is appropriate for NASCAR which is trying to broaden its appeal to include and respect ALL Americans.

As photographers we create our art, but not everyone is going to ultimately like or agree with our art, even if they seemed to at the beginning.

This will pass as another teaching moment for all of us as photographer.

BTW a shot of mine of a Hispanic-American model taken 13 years ago with a copy of the General Lee and its Confederate Flag on the roof .

FYI, I am African-American, married to a Ukrainian wife with my Ukrainian stepson.

Cheers

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scubadoc Loc: Sarasota, FL

mikeroetex wrote:

While that’s a very kind posture, as someone who grew up in the Deep South I can tell you that many of the monuments were erected in 1910-1930’s as lingering protests against Reconstruction era. The state flags that still captured the Stars and Bars were the same. 😂

Just out of curiosity, how was the history of the Civil War taught when you were in school. I imagine that the dominant position was that it was all about State’s rights and had nothing to do with slavery.