Oddly named and a complete mess.

Occasionally I get picture references from friends who store their snaps on Flickr. I can see that it’s a nice, cheap place to keep your pictures online and hopefully someone at Flickr is backing up everything properly.

But that’s the only use I have ever found for Flickr or sites like it. The problem is that there is no editing of content, no quality control. So everyone can post there – and sometimes it seems that everyone does – but unless you are directed somewhere specific, it’s not the sort of destination you drop by hoping to find some good pictures to look at. Of course there’s a wonderful selection of great photographs on the site, but how do you go about finding them? Or finding new work of interest, for that matter? That’s the problem with freedom of speech. Everyone gets to say anything they want and, distribution curves being what they are, most of it is pure, unadulterated garbage.

Sorry, but the First Amendment just does not cut it when it comes to art quality.

Contrast the Flickr experience with the one at File Magazine which states:

“We publish images that treat subjects in unexpected ways. Alternate takes, unconventional observations, odd angles — the photographs in the collection reinterpret traditional genres”

And they are true to their credo. Images can be submitted by anyone but must be reviewed and approved. This is what accounts for the site’s great quality and I think you will enjoy much of the great photography there.

I realize that it’s unfair to compare a free storage medium (Flickr) with an edited magazine (File Magazine) but I like to look at good pictures and there’s no way to find them on Flickr without much time wasted on seemingly random searches.

By the way, I came across File Magazine during yet another enjoyable session Stumbling about and commend that approach to you. Every tenth site, and there now seem to be thousands, has something to offer. The service only works with Firefox.