Me, 1982, on a ferry to Boulougne*

* or however you spell it



Although some on Twitter chose to take the piss out of this pic*, I think I look quite cool and innocent (yeah what happened, etc etc).

*Warning: do not try this at home. I only post personal pictures on the Net regard that snarky comments stay well away. Don't mind people critiquing my photos, even saying they are shit or could be better - quite often they could be, and always love a constructive view on something.

But thoughless personal comments about how I looked as a kid? After my childhood of bullying I have one phrase and one phrase only? Fuck off and preferably down a very large cliff with spikes at the bottom. I will be the one pushing you over. Promise.

EDIT:

Having calmed down from yesterday's rant I do want to say: all comments re: my photography are appreciated - as long as people are engaging their brain slightly (saying something is shit is rather dumb, saying *why* it's shit I would be very interested in - or why it's good). I don't want to scare people off commenting or just expect praise, that's not what I am about.

It's rare that someone could push buttons re: my photographs - it's possible as people have done it, but every time I get used more to critique. In fact what triggers it isn't crit as I'd know it at art school, it's comments like 'it's wrong' 'that's shit' 'bad hairstyle/bad clothes' without knowing a) what I was trying to do or b) the commenter not having the slightest experience or knowledge of the circumstance but insisting they are somehow right. Not talking opinion, sort of 'I like that/don't like that' - I mean that the art/photo somehow fails without bothering to check the background, or learn something about the medium.


But I do think snarking about hairstyles or dress sense is probably off-limits unless it's pertinent to what I'm trying to do, especially as a child for various reasons that I think the person didn't know about. I was quite bullied later on as a kid for the way I looked and am; it just brings up some nasty memories and even in jest I won't tolerate bullying....but also that image is bittersweet for me, quite innocent and unaware what happened about 3 years later (my parents very nasty custody battle and divorce) which changed the course of my whole life.

Being a carefree kid didn't last long, I guess I'm not alone in that, but I see a happy child despite what I admit *is* a terrible bowl haircut (the local barber was terrible, I switched to the new 'unisex' one when it opened as they understood the idea of 'thinning' the hair rather than trimming the edges and letting it grow like a crash helmet!), although notice I am not wearing school uniform...I was the only child allowed not to cos my parents won that battle, and strangely I cos I didn't give a shit about it no-one bullied me over that. Quite crazy looking back...I was in my own little world and quite confident or just blithely unaware. And proud of my difference, I guess. I didn't really think about it, nor care and the bullies mostly stayed away cos they didn't see an insecurity they could exploit.

That didn't last with the events of 1985.

Me, 1982, on a ferry to Boulougne*

* or however you spell it



Although some on Twitter chose to take the piss out of this pic*, I think I look quite cool and innocent (yeah what happened, etc etc).

*Warning: do not try this at home. I only post personal pictures on the Net regard that snarky comments stay well away. Don't mind people critiquing my photos, even saying they are shit or could be better - quite often they could be, and always love a constructive view on something.

But thoughless personal comments about how I looked as a kid? After my childhood of bullying I have one phrase and one phrase only? Fuck off and preferably down a very large cliff with spikes at the bottom. I will be the one pushing you over. Promise.

EDIT:

Having calmed down from yesterday's rant I do want to say: all comments re: my photography are appreciated - as long as people are engaging their brain slightly (saying something is shit is rather dumb, saying *why* it's shit I would be very interested in - or why it's good). I don't want to scare people off commenting or just expect praise, that's not what I am about.

It's rare that someone could push buttons re: my photographs - it's possible as people have done it, but every time I get used more to critique. In fact what triggers it isn't crit as I'd know it at art school, it's comments like 'it's wrong' 'that's shit' 'bad hairstyle/bad clothes' without knowing a) what I was trying to do or b) the commenter not having the slightest experience or knowledge of the circumstance but insisting they are somehow right. Not talking opinion, sort of 'I like that/don't like that' - I mean that the art/photo somehow fails without bothering to check the background, or learn something about the medium.


But I do think snarking about hairstyles or dress sense is probably off-limits unless it's pertinent to what I'm trying to do, especially as a child for various reasons that I think the person didn't know about. I was quite bullied later on as a kid for the way I looked and am; it just brings up some nasty memories and even in jest I won't tolerate bullying....but also that image is bittersweet for me, quite innocent and unaware what happened about 3 years later (my parents very nasty custody battle and divorce) which changed the course of my whole life.

Being a carefree kid didn't last long, I guess I'm not alone in that, but I see a happy child despite what I admit *is* a terrible bowl haircut (the local barber was terrible, I switched to the new 'unisex' one when it opened as they understood the idea of 'thinning' the hair rather than trimming the edges and letting it grow like a crash helmet!), although notice I am not wearing school uniform...I was the only child allowed not to cos my parents won that battle, and strangely I cos I didn't give a shit about it no-one bullied me over that. Quite crazy looking back...I was in my own little world and quite confident or just blithely unaware. And proud of my difference, I guess. I didn't really think about it, nor care and the bullies mostly stayed away cos they didn't see an insecurity they could exploit.

That didn't last with the events of 1985.