Double Posts in December and a Healthy Rant

(Shaley in the Burnt Forest, November 2017)

Well it’s coming up on two years now here on Patreon. In the beginning I thought it would an interesting experiment to see if I could convince anyone who might like my work to remotely be interested in supporting it financially. Within six months I was able to pay off the rest of my credit card debts and beginning having an honest-to-god savings account for the first time in my adult life. Your continued support has given me confidence both in my work and in my self-value, and there truly are no amount of words to thank you all as deeply as I feel about the changes brought about in my life due to this weird, hungry beast called Patreon.

As a special “thank you” for a great two years, I have decided to post DOUBLE SETS of shoots in my posts throughout the month of December, meaning two sets of links per post. I have such a huge backlog of images, I want to start with some newer work in 2018 and am looking forward to sharing as much as I can with you all before the end of the year, including more of my Italy photos from this summer as well as current shoots with some of your favorite local models. Let me know what you think about this!

Also, I have a more serious note to mention here, too. Though there are so many positive benefits to this platform, I have to admit: sometimes I don’t have a lot of fun here. Clearly I deeply appreciate all of my supporters, but, as there always is when it comes to being part of a community, there has been a very loud and hopefully tiny, vocal minority that has just been shitting on me and what I do. Nothing seems to be good enough for these people. If I post a set of their favorite model, there aren’t enough revealing images. If I post larger folders, the cost is too high. If I share a nude photo set, the images aren’t graphic enough. If I post a few select erotic images, why isn’t there video to accompany it all?

Maybe I trusted the pervy contingent of my follower base to be mature and decent adults who could keep the worst parts of themselves in check. And again, please don’t think this is an attack on you all, this is just me venting against the very small minority who always try to ruin it for everyone else. And man, do they love sending emails, sometimes multiple times an hour. And it can be exhausting trying to be polite and professional when all they want is to irrationally make demands because they’re sending me some money for the first time.

I’d like to believe that my supporters come here for more than just boobs. That they come here to appreciate the stories I write, the behind-the-scenes essays and images of real, beautiful women who are interesting and complicated and worth getting to know on a deeper level. There’s tons of free porn out in the world, and to be perfectly frank, if you want to just jerk off, go have a great time, but I don’t want you here. I don’t mind my work being seen in a sensual or titillating manner, but my goal when shooting has never been to “get someone off,” as we used to say back in the 80s and 90s. I don’t mind my work being sexy, because of course it is, but my desire is for it to be seen as far more than that.

Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I haven’t been doing enough of a good job and I need to hold back a bit and not share all the things I’ve been experimenting with. Honestly, I’m not sure. I just know that the few messages I used to receive once or twice a day  from loyal and mature fans have now become a constant stream, and the amount of negativity and dissatisfaction I hear can weigh on me heavily, at times.

Again, don’t think that if you’ve ever had a complaint that I am talking about you. This small subset of subscribers know who they are. Their intentions are not honorable, nor do they offer constructive criticism. They just want everything they demand for as cheaply as possible and don’t care that me and the women I work with are human beings.

Please let me know what you think. Please, all you wonderfully supportive and silent majority, write a comment and tell me what you want to see. Send me some comments or messages of what I need to do more of, or what you think is working and not working. Constructive criticism is always welcome, but only hearing blanket negativity and grossness only forces me to keep my guard up. And I really want to engage with you all. So please, let me know what you all think on this matter.

Thank you all again for continuing to support small-time artists. The Patreon platform and community has truly changed my life and I can’t thank you guys enough. It’s just tough working in a bubble, in this small vacuum of isolation. I look forward to hearing what you all have to say about this. Thanks again, and please keep in touch.

-Mark