Drat, bad timing. Last week I was in Montreal and visited some of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. Our churches here are not impressive. And I suggested this challenge!
I had the same question concerning church, mosque, temple. Can the challenge description be revised for clarity? I sort of like "place of worship" but that will no doubt open the door to many nature photos. Maybe "Building of Worship?" Or maybe just include "(church, mosque, temple, etc.)" in parentheses!
Reading this challenge description made me do a facepalm and I really wish DPC would revise it. It's not just badly phrased, it's offensively Christian centric. Imagine "Mosque from any religion." Yes, I know most DPCers would (and will) just go with the intent, but imho DPC and its members should be embarrassed by such a display of ignorance.
ETA: If we keep this wording then I propose we have the following challenge:
"Photograph a Nikon from any manufacturer and show it's beauty, grandeur or simplicity"
:P
Reading this challenge description made me do a facepalm and I really wish DPC would revise it. It's not just badly phrased, it's offensively Christian centric. Imagine "Mosque from any religion." Yes, I know most DPCers would (and will) just go with the intent, but imho DPC and its members should be embarrassed by such a display of ignorance.
ETA: If we keep this wording then I propose we have the following challenge:
"Photograph a Nikon from any manufacturer and show it's beauty, grandeur or simplicity"
:P
I'm offended that you're offended!
The church isn't a building. In fact it is a body of people. The word is Ecclesia in the original greek. Therefore I would prefer the word edifice. The edifices attended weekly pretty much started out as local houses, then the church turned to underground catacombs as persecution grew more rampant. so the definition ought to be:
Reading this challenge description made me do a facepalm and I really wish DPC would revise it. It's not just badly phrased, it's offensively Christian centric. Imagine "Mosque from any religion." Yes, I know most DPCers would (and will) just go with the intent, but imho DPC and its members should be embarrassed by such a display of ignorance.
ETA: If we keep this wording then I propose we have the following challenge:
"Photograph a Nikon from any manufacturer and show it's beauty, grandeur or simplicity"
:P
I'm offended that you're offended!
The church isn't a building. In fact it is a body of people. The word is Ecclesia in the original greek. Therefore I would prefer the word edifice. The edifices attended weekly pretty much started out as local houses, then the church turned to underground catacombs as persecution grew more rampant. so the definition ought to be:
"Photograph a religious edifice of your choice."
Agree, and "place of worship" is ok, too. The members of DPC come from different countries and cultures, not all members are Christian.
I am far from a controversial type person and my comments in the forums are fairly benign but I too find the wording for the Church challenge to be Christian centric. Many of us are not Christians and would find it difficult to know of a church that would be interesting enough to photograph.
The other point being is that voters tend to vote according to challenge descriptions and if I enter an altar with Buddha and water bowl offerings on it, it will (I believe) get marked down.
I am not splitting hairs here .. the description was not well thought out and is not inclusive.
I like the thought behind the challenge very much, but the description should be changed in my opinion.
OTOH, the challenge isn't "Religion" (we've done that) or "Worship" or something else. It's "Churches" being used as a generic word for a building where religious gatherings are held. We may want a different challenge, but there's no reason to cry "not inclusive!" just because it does limit the challenge topic. Where was the outcry for "Zen" or why didn't we have a "Modes of Transportation" challenge instead of the very biased "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles"?
I'm posting this with some humor because only DPC can get out of sorts over the minutae of challenge descriptions. Carry on. There are no impressive churches in Eugene, I'll tell you that much, but I have one in mind anyway that might get a different niche of voters.
Since I am the only poster to use the term not inclusive I find it strange that it was re quoted but there's no reason to cry "not inclusive!" My opinion was far from a cry. It was just my opinion. To then follow up with "Carry on" is dismissive of my point of view.
I remember now why I rarely comment in the forums.
Since I am the only poster to use the term not inclusive I find it strange that it was re quoted but there's no reason to cry "not inclusive!" My opinion was far from a cry. It was just my opinion. To then follow up with "Carry on" is dismissive of my point of view.
I remember now why I rarely comment in the forums.
You just happened to be the post before me and your phrase probably stuck in my head. I wasn't trying to point you out in specific at all. The "carry on" meant "just ignore me if you want because I'm not too serious about this".
Yeah, that does make me feel better - it did sound like you were responding to me personally and I did take offense. As I stated, I think it is an excellent challenge - I would just like to see images not get marked down if they don't fit the Christian norm and was concerned the wording might create such a mind set.
As I gave it more thought, I remembered that challenges often leave people out .. such as the last one 'city' - the rural people weren't happy and had to think it through. I have no problem sitting out this challenge.
My initial post and my response could have been worded better.
I had great plans for this competition... but ended up not being able to shoot it. Maybe sometime soon.
There's a 'religious edifice' down the road from me that's lit up nicely at night and was hoping to get a macro shot of it through a water drop rolling off a leaf. I don't exactly have a macro lens, though, so I was off to a bad start :)
I think it'd be good to try to get that shot sometime anyway. It'd definitely be challenging, but that's not necessarily a bad thing methinks.
