see also

dano, the terrifying part there is how much the, uh, "photographer" seems to know about these people. Viz

flickrstalckr!

freeeeeeaky.

Yeah, there's something very unsettling about the fact that most of the pictures are from behind, without the subject's knowledge or consent.

I've been toying with the idea of doing a Stalker series for Flickr with a friend of mine (obviously with her permission) but am sort of conflicted about it still. This didn't help me become unconflicted.

Weird.

It's funny seeing somebody with "bukkake" in their name calling this creepy. And the photos actually tagged "creepy" don't seem as creepy as the Girl Watcher or metrovoyuer pics and comments.

It's funny seeing somebody with "bukkake" in their name calling this creepy

well, "bukkake" is more like a "icky" tag. or, "sticky", I guess

Not that creepy. Pretty much everybody does this with their eyes everyday, and that'll never change.

speaking of which, is this Photoshopped or is it legit?

but they don't collect them and post them on the internets with their eyes alone.

but they don't collect them and post them on the internets with their eyes alone.

That's in development.

What does bukkake mean? I never knowed. How do you pronounce it?

About the pic that tr33hggr linked to - the guy obviously doesn't know the difference between bulimia and anorexia.

Also, I don't find the photos themselves creepy, just his comments.

iconomy: think of a circle jerk, but instead of a cookie, there is a face in the middle covered in splooge

bukkake: Boo-cock-ee

Ah thanks Schyler! I thought it had something to do with noodles. Or anal sex.

Maybe I thought it had something to do with anal sex using noodles?

At any rate - ewww at the actual definition. I guess it's an exercise in erotic degradation or something. Very festive!

Also - my mind was pronouncing it buh-cake. ;)

That is creepy.

it was the traditional punishment for adultery in Japan...with the whole village showering her with shame...

naturally, it has been picked up by the american pron industry as the new hot thing

with the whole village showering her with shame...

no, it's a Western urban legend actually -- just ask any Japanese person worth her or his salt (or just ask a penguin!). it's just a modern Japan X-rated industry thing, there is no actual older tradition -- it all started because strict anti-obscenity laws forbid to show actual penetration unless it's digitally blurred. bukkake films make that easier, avoiding penetration. and there's a huge market for facial-style p8rn in Japan.


oh, and the sweet Cuban nun can read into this penguin's heart: that gentleman's pictures are indeed very creepy, as in obsessive/creepy, voyeuristic but in a bad way

Upon seeing more of the photos. Yep. They're creepy.

I hope none of us ever comes across a photograph of ourselves on this guy's flickr pages. Gah.

For me, the first few aren't so bad. It's like, I saw some cute girls and took some pictures. However, as page after page goes by it becomes creepier and creepier, with the fixation's true scope becoming clear. Or something.

Aren't the pictures in reverse chronological order, so more and more disturbing pictures means that he's getting 'better'?

I find his familiarity with some of the women the most disturbing.
Ultimately, the copyright (sure it's authentic) and the url slapped on the photos just scream pron to me.

Also, does the copyright violate some Flickr policy?

Off topic, sorta:

I will now come out of one closet, and ask you to sing along (to the tune of "I'm a girl-watcher).

I'm a grill-watcher!
I'm a grill-watcher...
Watching burgers fry,
My. Oh my.

Jon, you don't find it creepy? So you wouldn't have any problem with any woman friend of yours being photographed and commented on in this way, or maybe going out with one of these guys?

To me it seems pretty scary, though I myself took a photo of a woman at a restaurant, and called the photo "pretty girl". I felt rather icky about it, though, and became really conflicted about whether I should do any more specific (ie: not casual people who happen to be on the street) candid non-permission shots. It's a rock and a hard place, because asking permission makes the person self-conscious, and even if they agree, you'll never get the shot you want. But after seeing this, well, ew. I feel even worse.

(But, hey, my shot was just a part of "ooh, nice tree!" *click* "ooh, cool shadow on a leaf" *click* "ooh, great wrought-iron door!" *click* "ooh, pretty girl!")

I like looking at pretty women as much as the next (straight) guy, but this kind of stuff weirds me out. It's creepy and a little bit exploitative. Mainly because of the comments and mass audience and lack of knowledge on the part of the subjects.

Also, if he makes any money on that website of his, he might be open to a lawsuit by these women. Commercial use of someone's likeness is not allowed without permission. Editorial, news, and private uses are completely legit. Artistic use is something of a grey area. I'm not sure where this would fall, if someone actually did bring suit.

Creepy for sure - looking at pretty girls = fine and normal, but this just strikes a wrong chord with me.

taz - if you wanted to take and use candid photos of people, you could take the photo, then ask for permission to keep/use it. That way, you get the photo you want without the guilt. If they don't want you to use it, you could delete it on the spot. Everyone wins.

This stuff really creeps me out. It's not the pictures so much - they're kind of innocuous, really - as the creepy, creepy, ultra creepy commentary. There's a big difference between a flickr photoset that goes pretty tree, pretty shadow, pretty sky, pretty girl, pretty puppy and one that's all Ooooh babeee hot stuff honey check out her ass! Now check out her ass and here's some information about her including her full name and a lot of stalkerish stuff I have gathered. That is just yuck and if I or any of my friends were on that website I'd be freaked. I'd be wondering when he was going to go from camera safari to real safari, if you get my drift.

Not creepy at first, but add not just the commentary but also the sheer volume of the pictures, and the multiple pictures of the same women, who must catch on by the third or fourth pic to what this guys is doing, and it really seems disturbed. Stalker is exactly right.

Jon, you don't find it creepy? So you wouldn't have any problem with any woman friend of yours being photographed and commented on in this way, or maybe going out with one of these guys?

That would be a mite hypocritical of me, wouldn't it. Me and most of my male freinds check out girls on the street and comment on them to eachother, and I imagine women do the same thing with men, gayfolk with their own and bisexuals with everybody.

Yeah, but there's a big difference between noticing somebody hawt on the street, commenting on teh hawtness to your pal as you walk on by and forget all about it and following teh hawtness around, taking a billion pictures, finding out his/her name, where s/he lives and where & what s/he is studying, and then obsessively posting all that on flickr.

At any rate - ewww at the actual definition. I guess it's an exercise in erotic degradation or something.

bukkake (the end is like the name Kaye, not like "key"... much as Americans continually mispronounce sake as "saki"...)

It is a very common word here, and has the meaning of something like "toss" "squirt" "dash"... it's a quick movement of liquid onto something. It actually is, indeed, related to noodles, as that is the most common place to note the use of the word in Japan. [Due to comics, Japanese even have a "sound" word for silence]

I find myself with a lot to say, but it's not coming out smoothly... so I'm just going to say that I find a lot of similarities between the creepy guy fetishizing strange women on the street and the current way Americans are fetishizing Japan.

Also, the urls on the photos make it seem like another porn site thing to me. (but I also agree with mygothlaundry's comment above)

And taz, don't worry unless your photo comments start sounding like the linked guy's comments. :P I don't think many people would be offended by "ooh, she's pretty"... it's the "ooh, I've been watching her for three weeks, and here's her ass" that crosses the line of creepydom.

i can't bring myself to look at the links right now but i'm surprised none of you have had a run in with this fetishism/vouyerism/escalating ___ of this type before.
i've been subject to this since before the digital age when men would walk around with cameras in their hands as if they are just carrying them and then they click as they walk by, or on their circuit around, etc. (common variations should be in easy reach of the imagination)
i remember seeing new reports on it when stalking was starting to become a legal issue and there is a definite difference between people who enjoy taking photos and this type of thing (remember, i haven't looked at the links)
i'm not sure if anything was ever passed legally about it but in some cases, it is just the beginning of-- stuff i don't wanna go into right now.
i remember some statistical information not so long ago about how the internet has caused some escalation/acceleration in deviant behaviors as they have the positive reinforcement of like minded people--
and i don't wanna back any of that up or clarify it right now because i am creeped out.
i think i'm going to bathe and try to take a nap.

ok, i bathed but now i wanna ask for somewhat related opinions on something so i can stop thinking about this:

[ok, i just have to delete this and go meditate instead but it was about whether people think it's okay for men to drive at the pace of girls trying to walk down the street, levels of harassment, and men who masturbate as they do this (girls as in women and children) and there is just no way i can keep thinking about this crap and keep a somewhat civil tongue in my head in five hours.
i'm not totally deleting it because i guess i need to evidence the foolishness of my own vitrol.

i believe i am not alone in deleting only slightly less that i post

not okay, and not legal.

Now stop thinking. Nope! Stop!

*opens ethylene's head, pours in happy pink bunnies*

Oh my! If you follow through to the Girl Watcher's Club, you'll find Mr. GirlButts. And many more... I think this firmly fits into the, "too horny for their own good, and they can't help but share this with the world via a PhotoSharingApp du jour."

Oh, and isn't there some kind of known trend where sexual preverts like to get together and share their preversions, or something? A kind of validation, I think.

sorry, taz. it was constructed differently pre-deletion in a completely different manner, having to do with the varying levels of what is still considered "acceptable" as well as more "sharing" i didn't want to spread around.
once again, lack surprise that this concerns my recent "difficulties" but i suppose seekers of morbidity can catch some of it in one of the blogs i make public later or elsewhere.

Jon,
I don't think it's the same thing at all, I'm sorry to say. I suspect that because you are essentially an optimist about human nature you see it as somewhere on a line with a casual street ogle (which is fine and natural, but can also escalate into nastyness, harassment and boring man style powertripping), however it is not, rather it is stalkery, it enables people who are already borderline, helps them lower social and learned barriers to poor behavior and eventually very bad things. It's kind of like a pyscho lottery, harmless diversion and time waster for most, but every once in a while up jumps the devil and it only takes one or two going bad every year or so to ruin a whole lot of lives. You gotta be in it, to win it, as it where.

There is of course no solution to this, nor is some vain attempt to censor it going to do anything. But good people such as yourself can do quite a bit (incrementally) by just being willing to accept that there is more going on here then just a healthy gonady bit of fun.

Wait, I elaborate: There is a solution, field tested. The Burka (Burqa). Since I wouldn't demand that the ladies be told to wear or not wear anything, I leave it to them to decide if they want to add all the social, emotional and thermal baggage of a head to toe modesty frock. I warn that you will, in the words of Robin Williams, look like a "muthafuckin' beekeepuh."

You're forgetting the people who are obsessed with ladies who are covered head to toe...

It is a difficult topic, really. Most voyeurs are harmless, are they not? Emotionally stunted.

I wonder if society hasn't trained women to be victims instead of responding with a sense of power. It's difficult to say, as being a woman seems to often mean damned if you and damned if you don't. Men are often encouraged to push the boundaries, and women are often told they are to blame for someone else's behavior.

Of course it would be nice if more people could learn to talk about sex.

Sexual predation is not the same as having a fetish, nor meeting similar people to find validation. Most fetishes are harmless and everyone has some level of voyeurism...

Basically, when will people (particularly men) stop saying things like "boys will be boys" or "we're hard-wired to rape and pillage"...? Men who think they somehow have a greater sex drive, probably have just never taken the time to get to know a woman intimately.

But anyway, it's way past my bedtime and I'm no sure of my coherency level. (I think I left out something about how some level of this sort of thing is harmless, but when it is something crossing the line, it would be nice if men, et al, could recognize it and not write it off as that whole "but we have penii" type thing)

Take care, everyone, and goodnight.
*sends a blue happy dream bunny to eth*
*notes likelyhood of purple bunny offspring to overrun MeCha*