No no, I have no intention of downvoting anyone's posts. However, I've been perusing around Steemit for nearly a year and a half now and finding a lot of amazing talent that's overlooked, while a lot of "just okay" photos make it on the trending page.
Steemit needs someone with a true photographic eye to do some honest curation. And, with nearly 20 years in the photographic industry on a professional level backing me, I would like to toss my name in to be that someone. So, I am requesting a 100K-200K SP delegation to make this happen.
In the event I am granted such a delegation, I have promises that will be upheld:
1. I will never upvote my own posts.
With the exception of a semi-frequent post I make using the "wwtop5pix" tag to spotlight Steemit's finest photographic talent (from which 100% of the liquid SBD generated is deservedly dispersed among the 5 featured photographers in each post), I will never self-upvote. This is something that I and many others on the platform feel has become a large problem with delegation, which is that people are using their delegation to benefit themselves and their small circle of friends. While the temptation is understood, this is something you will never find happening here should delegation be granted, and I will gladly let the blockchain speak for me for the duration.
2. The images being featured in my posts and/or upvoted using delegation will be done so based solely on the merit of the images themselves.
Nepotism will not be found here. While it's possible that some photographers will be featured multiple times (not within the same post), it should be made very clear here and now that this is a testament to their work, not to who they are. So, just as someone can play music by ear, I will be choosing images by eye. This will be a purely subjective selection of images with a purely objective view of the photographers that took them. I'm shopping for skill here, folks, not names.
3. I will never use another Steemit photographer's image in my posts.
While this one doesn't sound terribly relevant to the subject of delegation, I feel - considering the purpose for which I plan to use it - that this is an important point that should be made. I've mentioned this in my "W.W.'s Top 5 Photos of Steemit" posts before, and one thing I found to be a problem with posts that featured other peoples' photography was that most people who made those "feature posts" assumed it would be okay to repost the images of the photographers they're featuring. The problem with this is that it takes away any incentive for the reader to continue to the OP's original post to give them some upvote love. They've already seen the image, so they've met the satisfaction of the post. Then, on top of that, the earnings for such a post were almost never shared with the people who shot those photos. I aim to change that experience for the whole platform with my #wwtop5pix initiative. The bottom line here is that the photographers I feature are guaranteed to get their share.
So I hope anyone with the ability to provide such a delegation will see this proposal and consider it a true positive for the community, rather than someone's misguided attempt to simply benefit themselves and their friends. I want to provide balance to the photographic community of Steemit by showcasing and rewarding its finest photographers based on skill and/or image quality.