Comments on: Eric Steel’s “The Bridge” http://www.tinynibbles.com/blogarchives/2009/08/eric-steels-the-bridge-2.html Journalist and author Violet Blue's site for sex and tech culture, accurate sex information, erotica and more. Tue, 26 May 2015 17:18:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: DJTennessee http://www.tinynibbles.com/blogarchives/2009/08/eric-steels-the-bridge-2.html/comment-page-1#comment-6562 DJTennessee Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:18:15 +0000 http://www.tinynibbles.com/?p=2974#comment-6562 I volunteered to work that screening for the Film Society as I was certain there would be protesters. And I LOVE doing crowd control in hostile protest situations. Only one guy showed to protest. Now at that Metallica documentary premiers at the height of the Napster controversy, on the other hand... I volunteered to work that screening for the Film Society as I was certain there would be protesters. And I LOVE doing crowd control in hostile protest situations.

Only one guy showed to protest.

Now at that Metallica documentary premiers at the height of the Napster controversy, on the other hand…

]]> By: casualencounters.com/blog http://www.tinynibbles.com/blogarchives/2009/08/eric-steels-the-bridge-2.html/comment-page-1#comment-6558 casualencounters.com/blog Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:34:15 +0000 http://www.tinynibbles.com/?p=2974#comment-6558 Apologies for typo above. :/ Apologies for typo above. :/

]]> By: casualencounters.com/blog http://www.tinynibbles.com/blogarchives/2009/08/eric-steels-the-bridge-2.html/comment-page-1#comment-6557 casualencounters.com/blog Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:33:47 +0000 http://www.tinynibbles.com/?p=2974#comment-6557 I cried when I watched that film. The deatha nd story of <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=26753163" rel="nofollow">Gene Sprague</a> especially got to me. I felt like he might still be alive if he'd only been born somewhere else. I cried when I watched that film. The deatha nd story of Gene Sprague especially got to me. I felt like he might still be alive if he’d only been born somewhere else.

]]> By: Tony Comstock http://www.tinynibbles.com/blogarchives/2009/08/eric-steels-the-bridge-2.html/comment-page-1#comment-6537 Tony Comstock Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:01:10 +0000 http://www.tinynibbles.com/?p=2974#comment-6537 A couple of years ago I had a long and largely unsatisfying go around with an IFC exec about the wisdom and ethics of broadcasting The Bridge. He seemed utterly impervious to the idea that putting actual footage of people jumping to their deaths out in a medium (television) where it could be encountered by viewers unaware of what they might be about to see was an act worthy of (at least a little) reflection. That conversation, and my own further reflection on the capacity of photographic imagery to trigger strong, uncontrollable, and even pathological responses has evolved my own thinking about how I present my work. I might think that it's unwarranted, or even silly for someone to get upset at what they might see on my website. I might even think that there is some value in challenging social norms about the where and when and how of presenting photographic depictions of nudity and sexuality. But since that back and forth on the IFC forum, I have tried to be more cognizant of the fact that why I may not understand why someone would have a strong negative reaction to the imagery in my work, my not understanding their reaction does not mean their reaction is not painful for them. That doesn't mean I've excised or buried every explicit image on our website, but I think (hope) I have become more judicious. Provocation for its own sake can easily become nothing more than adolescent acting out; more likely to harden people in their positions than to open dialog. A couple of years ago I had a long and largely unsatisfying go around with an IFC exec about the wisdom and ethics of broadcasting The Bridge. He seemed utterly impervious to the idea that putting actual footage of people jumping to their deaths out in a medium (television) where it could be encountered by viewers unaware of what they might be about to see was an act worthy of (at least a little) reflection.

That conversation, and my own further reflection on the capacity of photographic imagery to trigger strong, uncontrollable, and even pathological responses has evolved my own thinking about how I present my work. I might think that it’s unwarranted, or even silly for someone to get upset at what they might see on my website. I might even think that there is some value in challenging social norms about the where and when and how of presenting photographic depictions of nudity and sexuality.

But since that back and forth on the IFC forum, I have tried to be more cognizant of the fact that why I may not understand why someone would have a strong negative reaction to the imagery in my work, my not understanding their reaction does not mean their reaction is not painful for them.

That doesn’t mean I’ve excised or buried every explicit image on our website, but I think (hope) I have become more judicious. Provocation for its own sake can easily become nothing more than adolescent acting out; more likely to harden people in their positions than to open dialog.

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