Dear Indymedia Community.

Firstly, a genuine and sincere Thank -you
to all those who have, in the past, posted constructive comments and criticism in reply to my posts. ( You know who you are) Cheers !

This was always going to happen at some point, so I guess its come a bit sooner, rather than later.

Sadly my last post "Anti-Fascist Demo in Dudley" and the submitted pictures
seem to bring out all that is currently wrong with Indymedia of late.
And as such my last is my Last !

As photographers, we are used to everyone hating us, this is not a "sob-story"
or a "woe is me" tale, but a plain fact !

Fascists hate us because we expose them for what they truly are, the police hate us for doing exactly the same, and now it seems even the people we support, and whos stories we cover and believe in have turned.

Whenever I cover these events, and there have been very many, people would ask me “What paper are you from “ ?

I would reply “I am a Freelance”
but would add, that I would be sending photos to Indymedia.

These people would then say that they would look for them, and I would feel justified in bringing good photographs which told the true story to their attention.

Recently, people have expressed disappointment that they seen Indymedia and seen the abuse and total bitching back and forth that a story like this and others too, has generated and I,
feeling as disappointed as they, would go away feeling, I had let these people down, the very people who had bothered to turn up, to protest, to publicly make their feelings about a particular issue felt.

Everyone, is of course perfectly entitled to their say, its fair comment, and I welcomed such criticism in the past. But this sort of rhetoric goes way beyond !

As a Freelance Photographer who covers these events, I do so because I care passionately about the issues, and hoped others would too,

whoever you are, who proclaim to champion the ordinary man in the street, the exploited, the worker, the unemployed, the striker, the pickets, the asylum seeker, the repressed.

Many has been the time, I have been travelling to a Protest, often alone, in the early hours, either locally or abroad, travelling through the cold, early hours to take the photographs that would do justice to that protest and the very people who would be there, often I have thought

“Is anyone listening “? “Does anyone really care” ? at the end of the day,
"Is it worth it" ? and More recently,
"Who will slag this work off when I publish on Indy" ?

Both in the early hours and in the mad-moments, when the bottles, bricks and sticks start flying, when others run away, and I, running with that crowd, toward the trouble, dodging the crap, with no insurance, just a camera, and the hope to get the one picture that captures exactly the particular story.

To get the picture ….. Not for personal career gain, or money !

If I wanted that, I would be with Reuters in Gaza. Or with the Paps !

But to show the real story, for my photographs to give the ordinary person in the street a voice he or she might otherwise not have, to play my small part in bringing this story to wider public attention.

That’s all I have ever wanted to do, even though there have been times, I have wondered if I am turning into some sort of nutter !

So, sadly, no more photos sent by me to Indy,
There are some of you who will say "Good Riddance"
and I guess that is your right, and I would not think bad of you for saying it , however,
I will never stop covering these events.
So look out for me once in a while, if you are part of that maddening crowd.

I Will be There …….

I just wont be Here !



With Regrets, Stillshooter.  http://Stillshooter.daportfoilo.com