Running a good site costs.  I don't believe that any of us have a right to expect someone to run a good site for us for free.

However, if the site became a pay site, I'd probably leave. My photography life is not such that a pay site is worth it to me.

It also goes beyond bandwidth and server space.  There's a lot of suggestions of, "Do this, do that."  There's also the time of the administrator to consider.  The bigger the site gets, the more demands users make, then the more time-intensive it becomes for the developer, and the more life it sucks up.  We can't expect someone to provide more and more work for free.  I think models, photographers, clothing suppliers, and makeup artists can all understand that concept.

I didnt read thru the entire thread, but if its going where the first page sugest, I feel it would become another deviantart site (in the negative sense).