APhotoContributor: i'll show you what that big word means.

When you get any sort of fame or infamy on the web or otherwise you definitely attract all sorts.

Some – and I’d say the majority – are there to be inspired … to learn … to interact in an authentic way. The minority is there to try and get close to you so that they can piggy-back on your fame and try and import your facebook contacts so that they can market your contacts with newsletters. They meta tag you on their sites. They buy google adwords with your name.

They are the deluded personality.

The deluded personality thinks that anyone who doesn’t agree with them are antisocial. They think that any affront to them is an affront to society in general. They talk about human rights and freedom of choice but subscribe to a mentality supporting hate sites. (google whoispaulhaggis)

On one hand they would have you believe that certain people do not want you to succeed and are happier when you’re moving laterally. On the other hand they think that sharing everything is par for the course. They believe that it’s okay to download a friend’s entire facebook contact list and attempt to market said list. It’s deluded to think that just because someone has a mutual friend – only because they asked for a friend request even though they don’t know them in real life – that they may have similar interests.

Because some of the deluded are roped into thinking that they can accomplish anything by visualizing their goal and “being their goal” they believe they are experts within five minutes. No amount of understanding the meaning behind words can achieve that no matter one’s intelligence. While this may look attractive to those without a qualified eye most can see through the veneer of glossy shit and buzzwords and clever titles. The deluded are undaunted and resolute in their delusion.

The deluded also deride any negative input as a “hater comment.” Hate is such a strong word. When I think of hate I think of hate groups that are in the Deep South or Idaho not just some internet keyboard cowboy with an opinion. The deluded, though, think that if you don’t share their exact opinion that you must be a hater. If you don’t subscribe to their dream delusion of grandeur, you must be out to get them and anyone else like them. That having been said, indeed, true dreamers exist. They’re not all gross deluded personality types.

I’m not sure if that’s a personality deficit of the deluded or just policy from what they subscribe. It could be both.

The deluded believe that they can pay for their soul’s salvation. I’ve always thought God or at least the “idea of God” wanted or deserved to be free. “Let me in the ring; I’ll show you what that big word means” - Lorde

The deluded wouldn’t know what being free is really about.

Only the deluded would attempt to deceive others into thinking that they’re experts. They do this in many ways. When they’re able to associate themselves with others who are credible they feel they are then credible themselves. They attempt to deride others into thinking they’re legitimate in their field by associating themselves with “bona fide” media outlets. Sometimes that works out if not for just a little while until people find out the truth.

The deluded have hidden agendas. While under the guise of selling “The Key to Your Creativity” all they really want are your clicks and/or your money.

No matter what the deluded achieved in the past they will never let you forget it as recycling material on whichever platform – or sometimes all of them – is standard operating procedure. What they don’t understand is that most see right through it. One needn’t be bombarded with repetitive material to get what the author is talking about. Sometimes, though, that thinking has been hammered into their heads by whatever philosophy they adhere to. The deluded don’t see it that way.

The deluded personality’s attempt to deceive others through frequent and continual posting in specialist forums about their dubious professional success. Since those forums aren’t populated with many established in the field of photography, some fall for the scheme. The deluded personality is about surface-level understanding. They claim to contribute to legitimate media outlets even though their contracts have been canceled for some time. They claim to “shoot portraits for magazines” without naming the magazines. Sometimes those magazines are as simple as church publications, which don’t have wide distribution.

If you ask which publications they contribute to, they take that as an affront to their dream. They’ll still list any outlet that they had even a distant association to keep up their delusion. Their delusion is an energy.

By associating themselves with brands – whether or not the brands are photography brands – they attempt to make it seem as though they’re relevant. They subscribe to the feeling that if they are telling time with a Patek, they must be able to appreciate time better than someone with a Casio. If they’re a Leica Photographer, surely, their view of their backyard is better than anyone with a lowly Canon or Nikon. If they wear a Louis Vuitton bag to carry their gear, surely it must do a better job than a pedestrian Domke. Surely, if they sign their exhibition prints with a limited edition Mont Blanc, that in and of itself, must make it more valuable. I would suggest never buying anything from the deluded; it will never go up in value.

The deluded wear a camera; a photographer uses his camera.

Believing that a camera – any camera made by any manufacturer – is just a fashion accessory that goes nicely with one’s scarf is delusional. Sadly, some of the deluded don’t even realize they’re doing it. Only the severely materialistic are impressed by the deluded. Those who have a true understanding of photography shun the deluded. They identify the deluded as the fraud that they are.

I’m much more apt to respect the fraud that knows he’s a fraud. That kind of fraud at least isn’t deluded. He knows what he’s doing. He’s not lead by a deluded ego.

The deluded are also contradictory. While they sometimes subscribe to a doctrine that makes fun or attempts to deride an entire profession they use vernacular from that exact profession when it’s convenient to define others. The deluded are so caught up in their personal delusions that they are incapable of seeing the truth.

There is nothing wrong with pursuing one’s dreams authentically. There is not one course or teacher, though, out there who can give you access to that dream beside yourself. You don’t need a workshop to make you better. You especially don’t need a workshop taught by the deluded.

Paying someone hundreds of dollars or euros will not get you closer to who you want to be as a photographer. There is no quick way to the top no matter what the deluded will try and sell you.

The deluded will, of course, think this is a "hater post."

Whether you have attracted the deluded because of notiariety or because you're simply on their newsletter hawking downloads or workshops, just know that they want one thing from you ... they want money.

Sometimes there are deluded individuals that preach "positive thinking" when in actuality that's the antithesis of what they're really about. Someone who acutally adheres to thinking positive should be relatively ethical. The problem is that, again, they're misleading their audience into thinking that whatever they say actually has weight in whatever field they try to promote themselves.

The web is full of them. I can totally understand how it would be hard to differentiate them given the amount of content being published by the minute.

One funny thing about them is that they tend to also attract each other. They tend to simutaneously publish stories on their blogs.

I'm actually happy for them. They have each other. ;) I wonder if they buy each other zen beads?