Photography is a "terrible career" said Florida-based poster, Alan Black, setting the busy micro-blogging platform Threads alight over the weekend as part of his list of dating red lines on the platform's main dating thread. Any woman he dated, he said, must not be a photographer, he said, getting over 2,800 responses.
He went on to add: "People being upset about Photographers being on this list is absolutely hilarious to me. They chose a terrible career. I just can’t with them"
If you're unaware (and congratulations if you are), dating threads like this are a common theme on social media for people to post their aspirations or, increasingly, their dating demands onto. The hope seems to be that a future partner will reply and romance ensue. Sure, there are dating apps they could try, but why not tell everyone?
Some find there is more enjoyment in using a social platform and taking the chance that friends, contacts, and, of course, strangers, might step in and offer their perspective. Perhaps Black was hoping the world at large could provide the random element his love life was needing.
What he got, however, was (as you might have anticipated) a lot of commentary on his criteria – in many cases, assessing it against his own offering.
If you are wondering what he looks like, he's a picture from his own Instagram:
The fact he put photographers and murderers next to each other on the list of no-nos is definitely of interest to those of us in the visual industry.
His justification for adding photographers came in a follow-up message, in which he explained: "I’ve been a professional photographer for 20 years. I’m not dating someone with the same awful profession as me" – a message which earned 2.8K likes alone.
Just when you thought Alan Davis, of Black Rhino Studios, might be a dreadful person, it's worth noting that he does describe his account as a joke in a pinned post.
He certainly is happy to engage in a bit of banter, with answers to "What if they are a really nice murderer?" (from ijustine), and if you do explore the comments in Threads you'll also find more than a few photographers who agree:
"As a photographer of 17 years I also don't want to date another photographer. It won't make sense to everyone but I get it." said @BeckyBrownPhoto.
How do you feel about your career or choice of hobby?
