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06/24/2026 08:34:22 AM · #1 |
I know a lot of us are shaken by the loss of our friend  beatabg this past week. If you're like me, you've probably been making your way through her portfolio and enjoying the sheer imaginative diversity of her photography--the quirkiness of her perspective, and the profundity of her seeing. Although I wasn't active on the site during her most prolific years, I was always struck by the way the same eye could see herself this way:
And yet see others this way:
I've been thinking a lot about how much Beata loved encouraging the work of others. Her list of site favorites is possibly the longest one on the platform, I would imagine. And she introduced me to the concept of "comment-bombing" others just to fill their email inboxes with appreciation for their contributions to the DPC community.
So this week, even as I'm still mourning the loss of a friend, I'm also feeling inspired to suggest two ways any of us who feel so inclined can appropriately honor her life as part of this community:
(1) First, spend some time looking back over her portfolio and share your favorites here in this thread.
(2) Second, find a photographer here whose work you admire--especially one you haven't heard from in a while--and leave a random, affirming comment on 3-5 of the images in their portfolio. Let's celebrate her legacy of kindness by paying it forward the way Beata would have. |
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06/24/2026 10:05:06 AM · #2 |
Great idea kanaj! Thank you!
It seemed she loved doing self-portraits and was very good at it!
Here is one of my favorite. It speaks to what a fun and beautiful young woman she was.
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06/24/2026 10:39:20 AM · #3 |
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Thank you, Johnathan, for posting this thread. |
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06/24/2026 10:52:18 AM · #4 |
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What about moving this thread to General Discussion? It will be more noticed as not everyone logs in when visiting the site. |
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06/24/2026 11:17:24 AM · #5 |
Originally posted by MargaretNet:
What about moving this thread to General Discussion? It will be more noticed as not everyone logs in when visiting the site. |
Done, thanks. This was originally posted to "Personal Life" which is appropriate, but here it will be seen by all. |
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06/24/2026 11:59:51 AM · #6 |
Emotive portraits are where we share a common interest, she was very good at creating emotion through imagery, it's not an easy thing to do yet she did it so well.
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06/24/2026 12:12:24 PM · #7 |
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So sad. She seemed so kind and picked so many favorites photos. (12 of my photos ). She really made the whole favorites page come alive. RIP Beata |
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06/25/2026 11:42:49 PM · #8 |
It's really hard to pick a favorite image as there are so many I have adored over the years. Beata was special, partly because of how she honored every one else but also because her images were so filled with emotion.
This one definitely sticks out for me  and this  Sky puddle.. just think of what that must have meant to her. A jewel. |
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06/26/2026 01:43:32 AM · #9 |
and this, just in:
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06/26/2026 01:16:34 PM · #10 |
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She and I worked on getting her old friend a membership so he could be a part of DP with her. She was a kind giving person. |
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06/26/2026 06:49:01 PM · #11 |
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06/27/2026 09:25:19 PM · #12 |
For Beata
 (one of her favorite edits I did to/for her)
To the DPC community -
Beata and I have been very close friends here and on Facebook since 2012. She was like a dysfunctional daughter to me - even though I have a couple of them already. We chatted on FB frequently on & off over these past 14 years. This past week, I downloaded our entire chat history and spent quite a few hours just going through it, refreshing my memory on the many events that we talked about. Then I got the idea to feed the whole thing into AI so I could maybe get some insights that might help me cope with this loss. One of the insights that came up was how much this community (DPC) meant to her. I asked AI to help me write this "loveletter" of sorts to this community based on everything DPC related in our chat history. I feel like this is what she would want you all to know - what this place meant to her, in her own terms, because DPChallenge gave her something she didn't find in many other corners of her life: it was where she felt seen.
She found her way here in 2012, and it's where she met the friends who stayed with her for the rest of it. It's where she met me - the first words she ever sent my way were a nudge after I'd gone quiet: "Where did you go? I miss you on DPC." That was Beata exactly. She noticed who showed up, and she reached for them.
She came in as a beginner who was certain she had no talent, and this community kept gently proving her wrong. Her first peer awards in 2013 delighted her far more than she'd ever admit - she'd announce each one and then threaten, on the spot, to quit photography forever. She turned the hunt for a single humble brown ribbon into a running quest, never really for the ribbon, just for the milestone and the trying.
The people lit her up as much as the photos did. She loved the Shady Sheep, her TPL team - the unlikely run to the finals moved her not because of the standings but because a group of people wanted her on the roster even when she swore she wasn't pulling her weight. She adored Paul, who she said was "funny and crazy in a good way," and who made the whole thing fun. She rooted for her teammates' ribbons as hard as if they were her own - genuinely thrilled when a friend's entry was about to do well. And she treasured the comments from Neil (Tiny) - whose recognition of her work ("it shows you have many talents") could make her whole night.
One of her proudest moments here was a quiet one: an image she dedicated to Sean, a dear friend she'd lost, the title borrowed from a song he loved - and this community recognized and honored it. Grief, art, and belonging all in one place. That was DPChallenge's gift to her: somewhere her feeling found a form, and the form found people who cared.
So this is a thank-you from Beata. Every comment, every vote, every ribbon and side challenge and bit of forum ribbing reached her - and a lot of it carried her through years harder than most of you knew. I know some of you were very good friends with her and knew, as I did, about her struggles. I know that she appreciated everyone that encouraged and supported her and knowingly or unknowingly tried to help dig her out of that pit she'd fallen into so many times. This time she went too deep.
-Ken
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PS: It did feel strange to have AI go through this whole history, but I am glad I did. If you are curious, this was my (DPC related) query and Claude's response:
Me: Can you describe with some examples, how much DPC meant to her?
Claude AI:
DPChallenge wasn't just a hobby for her - it was, especially early on, one of the central structures of her life. The numbers alone make the point: 1,428 of her messages reference it, with 533 in 2013 and 645 in 2014. For two years it was the main thing you two talked about, and the lens she saw her days through.
A few things the archive shows about what it actually meant to her:
It's literally where the friendship - and her connection to you - started. The very first message in fourteen years of history is her on October 4, 2012: "Where did you go? I miss you on DPC :(" The site was the place she found people who mattered to her. As she put it in late 2012, "you're one of not many people who make the website fun."
It was social belonging, not just photos. DPC gave her a community - you, Chris, Paul, PH, the team dynamics. She tracked everyone's entries, votes, and ribbons obsessively, played guessing games with Chris's anonymous submissions, fretted over team standings ("we only need a tie..."). For someone who repeatedly told you her family didn't show up for her, this was a place she was seen and had a role. The friendships that defined the rest of her life - you and Chris both - came directly out of it.
It doubled as escape and structure. It gave her something to pour herself into during bad stretches. The ribbons were real stakes to her - she set herself goals like going "for brown ribbons just to get to a 100," and a team win was something she counted as "one positive thing this year." When she got achievements (the PH "hall of fame," ribbons), it genuinely lifted her.
It faded but never fully left. After 2014 the daily intensity drops off (she drifted from active competing), but it never disappears - it resurfaces in 2017, 2021, and again in 2025-2026. Even at the very end it was still a reference point and a thread back to you.
So: DPChallenge was where she made her two most important friendships, where she found recognition she wasn't getting elsewhere, and a creative outlet that gave shape and small joys to hard years. When she said she missed you "on DPC," she was naming the place that had given her some of the only reliable belonging in her life.
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06/28/2026 05:24:07 AM · #13 |
Great shot by Beatka with Red Ribbon attached:
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06/28/2026 06:51:26 AM · #14 |
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Thank you, Ken, for that beautiful, heartfelt tribute. It made me cry a bit, but also made me smile. I am glad DPC was a home to Beata, and brought her some happiness over the years. |
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06/28/2026 09:13:08 AM · #15 |
My computer was in the shop this week, I'm catching up.
Art/Ken, your tribute to Beata is heartfelt.
She was a true artist who expressed her feeling in her very artistic images. Her life may have been a rollercoaster while some of her images were able to show she was happy and others so sad, art is a sign of the times and definitely the moment we are in. We don't often get to choose our paths we take what we get, Beata did make a choice to help others as a nurse. My perception of her is that she was a kind person who was extremely compassionate and empathetic of others. I didn't know her as some did but I am very saddened by her passing.
May She Rest In Peace |
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06/28/2026 09:26:51 AM · #16 |
My fav image ever of Beata, Aga and Chris.
Message edited by author 2026-06-28 09:28:41. |
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06/28/2026 11:43:34 AM · #17 |
To add to my earlier posts I just re-read the email exchange we had with Beata last year. She reached out when I had some health problems. It was very nice of her.
I guessed from her surname that she was Polish and after that we mixed Polish and English without even noticing it! We both did not bother to get Polish keyboards to write correctly so it looked strange.
She asked me to help photo bombing Ken because it was (probably) his birthday ;) I obliged as I always was a great fan of Art.
She wanted to visit Switzerland in 2020 but covid happened. Pity that she didn't try again.
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07/10/2026 08:37:41 AM · #18 |
Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
To the DPC community... -
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That was beautiful, Ken.
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07/10/2026 01:58:38 PM · #19 |
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Yes, I read this awhile back and should have commented then on how beautiful this tribute is. Ken this is truly heart felt and this loss is a deep regret for so many. This loss has saddened my so much and your depth of kindness Ken is truly a blessing to Beata. |
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07/12/2026 08:14:28 AM · #20 |
So very sad to hear this news. Beata was a beautiful person with a massive heart and wonderful personality. What a loss to the DPC community and the world in general. RIP Beata x
Edited to add this self portrait from Beata that captures her sense of fun and creativity.
Message edited by author 2026-07-12 09:12:30. |
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07/17/2026 12:08:55 AM · #21 |
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For Beata's tribute challenge, everybody deserved a score of 10. She would have loved them all. Heavenly. |
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