Well, I have gone over it a few times, pondered it again and again, started, stopped and started again... but I have finally done it.

I joined another site for photography. You can find me there at PolarBear on Eyefetch.com.

I am also trying to finally get my own site up and running although it is coming slowly: CarpeLumen.ca.

I have some concerns about the Terms of Service on this site, and about the things which have happened in the last couple of years. Often, we find user agreements online which are designed to take our rights away or to force us to submit to making our art/photos/etc. public domain in order to use the site, but most people look at these situations and consider the odds of that being a problem to be so small it doesn't matter. Even if the user Terms of Service on a site claim that the site has the legal right to somehow override your copyright, you usually believe that most operators would not do anything outrageous or morally repugnant because, after all, they are people and have consciences.

When it comes to DeviantART and what went on in 2005 (and since), I cannot naively allow myself to believe anyone here at the highest level has anyones best interest at heart but their own. They aren't artists driven by the values shared by artists, they are bean counters and spin artists out to figure out any way they can to milk something else out of this site while covering their own asses. Starting from the point where you doubt they would act with integrity, it doesn't take raving paranoia to reach a point where you believe they'd do anything to screw you and make a dime for themselves.

I adopted a wait and see attitude before, posted a few more images, checked in every few weeks and decided - its not worth it. I have little or no control of my own images here. There is no benefit in paying money to access a prints system which is so astonishingly unbalanced in favour of the agent, placing them far above the artist. Other than a few friends - the majority of which seem to have also moved on - there is nothing to keep me here.

°jark asked back in January if dA was still relevant. I really wasn't sure then.

I am now.

It isn't.