P3D Re: SI swimsuit vs sports content

[EightxTen@xxxxxxx]

If anyone believes for a second, that major consumer magazine editors (or 
book publishers, etc) are the ultimate judges of quality photography - or 
that their job is to reward hard work, sheer talent, and creativity by 
presenting the best imagery to the masses, you are sadly mistaken.  It is 
their job to produce a publication which will attract a large readership, 
sell many copies, and impress the advertisers who foot the bill for most, if 
not all, of the production costs.

Much of the best photography created, was (and is) personal work generated 
and produced by dedicated, passionate photographers who pursue their craft 
out of their own ideals and desires.  It has always been an uphill battle for 
photographers to have their best (or most significant) work published.  Every 
professional (editorial) photographer has experienced this same dilemma - 
whether it be at a small-town weekly newspaper or the top national magazines.

The exclusion of Dave's sports images does not indicate that the editors felt 
his pictures were of less quality or interest to the general readership, than 
the swimsuit pictures.  It most likely represents what Ron stated in his 
"true story" post - that it basically came down to a financial decision.  And 
while that decision can be disagreed with and second-guessed - my feeling is 
that we really should be pleased with the exposure (pun intended) that 3D 
received from this.  I was extremely suprised (and pleased) to see their 
inclusion of the historical article and i feel it was a service to all of us 
who derive such great pleasure from our pursuit of 3D interests.

In the end, my opinion is that 3D for the masses is not yet viable, and that 
its eventual success will lie in future technology.  Consequently, the best 
scenario to come out of this would be if one of those 6.5 million readers 
would be encouraged, motivated, and inspired to conceive and/or develop such 
technology.  And the worst scenario, would be if none of those 6.5 million 
readers finds it worthwhile enough to find this list and join us.  Only time 
will tell.

Gary Dineen