So it seems every time I come back to check up on DeviantArt I get my ass kicked by how awful it's become...

I used to use this site as a place to find some reference... while I always had to fish through a ton of deviations to get something decent, there was still a lot of good photography. So I came back today.. thought I'd give it a whirl only to be kicked in the crotch by how awful everything's become. This is just in the photography section alone. Content, execution and concepts are horrid!! I have never known a photographer who has ever, EVER, used flash photography as much as I see it used here. And I swear some people are posting pictures they've taken with their camera phones. Does DPI mean nothing anymore? Does anyone even know what I'm talking about when I say DPI?

I mean... I saw a photo of a guy's girlfriend's vagina in "fetish photography" that had no specific lighting, no interesting angles and was pixelated as fuck. I just don't understand how 1) deviantart.com has become so pathetic to allow crap like that to even be posted 2) how an "artist" can think that is even acceptable as "art" 3) how we as a community can allow it to be posted in the first place. It's nothing short of what you would see on a porn site. There were tons of photography submissions that I would categorize as "pornographic" and not artistic. I don't think someone snapping a photo of themselves, nude, in front of a mirror, camera in hand and all, should be qualified as art. This is something you post on a raunchy myspace.com site as your avatar, not here to be critiqued.

Which brings me to my next point... WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY YOU TO CRITIQUE SOMETHING? I thought this site was for artists who want to post their work to be critiqued by their fellow peers. So why do I have to pay for something that should come with an art-community site? It just boggles my mind... I can read others' critiques... but I can't join in unless I pay at least 5 bucks a month for a service that should be free.

Now I remember why I wanted to be removed from this site in the first place.

For those of you who do put up quality work and have the balls to critique others' work and not just say "kawaiii!!!!! <33333," I thank you and keep doing it. For those of you who think "cute" is constructive criticism, save everyone the pain of your existence and quit now.