I have had two Flickr photography sites over the years. The older one stopped because the email provision altered from Yahoo to BT, suggestions were made to change this and change that. And change became problematic. My Pro status was still in place but machinations and simplicity of access became different and somehow difficult. My Moonfruit photography site did the same with my yearly subscription account. I also took up a Google search name with Moonfruit too. Visits to my black and white film ‘gray summers’ photography site were phenomenal on Moonfruit. Tens upon tens of thousands of visits. No comments because I wanted it only as a ‘view’ site. I wasn’t a business. It’s ambience of gentle and relaxing ‘Buddhist chant with it’s underlay of beautiful accompanying music playing’ became a Mindful principle. I imagined that whilst people looked at my photographs in ‘images in stills’ or a ‘slide presentation’ format they could relax for a while from a busy life. This was the site’s main intention and also it’s technical limit. 

It’s difficult to understand and explain what happens as it actually is all happening. Especially here in the future. I can’t speak or tell the Moonfruit or Flickr past true stories with any confidence. Cannot break down the step by step problematics. They went AWOL and that is simply enough to tell. Interestingly I just Googled Moonfruit before writing this blog and I saw they no longer exist. People must have been frustrated in losing a lot of work after putting in a lot energy in promoting their sites. I intentionally let my Moonfruit site go. I knew I had scanned and uploaded photographs of mine that are now simply gone. I now no longer can see them easily. Original prints of many photos given away in their hundreds over the years. I have the negatives in boxes by their thousands. Most rubbish. However. A few dozen I really loved.

But, as said, I cannot see those long forgotten images of photographs from Moonfruit anymore. I did not access that site for years on years anyway. So it was my fault I suppose. Photographs would have been kept in files on my laptop in use at that time. But that laptop has long gone.  I could have gone on my Moonfruit website and downloaded ‘save to file’. But I simply didn’t. Because of ‘laptop space limits’? Not really. I just thought they would always be there online to access. I couldn’t have screen shot because I used laptop in those days for both Moonfruit and Flickr. The problematics were profound with the site and I had many of my photographs on Flickr Pro anyway. Then Flickr Pro hiccuped too. 

I’m flabbergasted at why these companies allowing gremlins into their systems. They pile on confusion somehow. Moonfruit and Flickr became difficult systems to work with. My current Flickr account has no Pro status. I simply won’t upgrade into the possibility for added confusion. Looking back on my Flickr site photographs, from a Google search for what current status is, it was the small and different avatars at top of screen that alerted me to the fact that my older Flickr site still existed. 

Please tap on individual photographs to enlarge.

It’s a little crazy seeing individual photographs at 500 to 900 views with some others in their thousands. I screen shot nine of my own photos which have seen high number visits and they have gained a total of approx 20,000 views on my very first Flickr site. If you tap on a photograph I have left numbers on the screenshots. Haven’t bothered to look on the new site yet for viewing comparisons. Don’t really want to. It’s not a business. It’s not about ‘numbers matter’. It’s not about the fact that the photographs either get glanced at or focused and studied. It’s difficult to explain really. 

Like WordPress. This is a cathartic exercise to keep the brain ticking. It is basically just ‘Fun’. I had professional jobs’ status over the last 30 years. A day to day work routine and all the extra efforts needed to also continue the study and learning updates. Photography has been a hobby for 20 years. So Moonfruit and Flickr were simply platform uploads that I thought initially my family and friends could access. They just took off and I suppose I got caught up in the fascination that lots of other people actually looked at my black and white images. Before WordPress I had another ‘blog’ providing platform and used it to upload and describe each photograph. But I rarely accessed it and it has long gone. WordPress has found it’s current groove because I journal. That is where it currently is now. Just thoughts and organic process of what I feel should be included. It is also a weird and wonderful land reading contributors to WordPress. 

But hey! I digress. This upload of meanderings has made me think about trying Black and White film in the Pentax LX camera again. Also. Found my old developing tanks a fair few months back. Also all my darkroom gear. Be nice to, at least, develop the film I shoot once again. But I won’t.

Looking on eBay film and the three develop/stop/fix chemicals are very expensive. The need to send the film away and get the negatives processed and photographs produced is also a bit of a luxury it would seem. But it is the better choice. Film is certainly not digital. You have to think through the actual photograph from start to finish because of possible cost involved. 

Looking at these photos here again? Thank you to the Faerie that sat on my shoulder when I had my camera pointed at whatever. She was the one who told me when to push the shutter button. Honestly. It’s definitely the case. Listen to the Visiting Whisperings from those Inherent and Outside Realms that Provide  Inspiration. 

Please tap on individual photographs to enlarge.