Graywolf : >I often see photos that I wouldn't have taken, but I always feel that is >because >my vision is different from the person's who took it, and not that my way is >better. I can see giving technical advice, but everytime someone posts a >photo, >there are a bunch of folks that jump in and say you should have made a >different >photo. That is a bunch of crap.
Marnie: > > >I disagree. All photographs can have criticism applied. How else is one to >learn? And/or improve? Look at one own' photographs and think how one >could have >taken it differently. And have others do the same thing. Cotty: I think that there is plenty of room for criticism in art, and Marnie is right that any photograph can be criticised. However, it is whether or not the criticism is heard, or even desired that is the question. Plenty want it, plenty don't. If I present a picture - whether it be a print to a friend, or a page on the web - personally I have absolutely no desire to hear or read a critique of that picture. None whatsoever. Anyone, of course, is free to do so - just I have no interest in reading or hearing it. If you look at one of my pics, it's the finished article - period. It isn't going to change the crop, the colour, anything. It's done and dusted. It means that I am happy with it. If I'm not, you don't see it. Art - and don't kid yourself: photography is art - is totally and utterly subjective. There is no such thing as right and wrong. There is only 'contentment' (in the sense that a piece of art has achieved - in the mind of the creator - what the creator set out to do - - even if the creator didn't have a plan, or even realise what they were doing). There are those of us who consider ourselves students, and rightly are learning by trial and error - but what are they learning? If there is no right and no wrong, how can they learn anything? I believe the answer is that they are learning to come to terms with their own desires, their own perceptions, their own limits. Ultimately, personal satisfaction and contentment with a creation is the goal. How could it possibly be anything else? You can teach and therefore learn the mechanics of photography, but you cannot teach and therefore cannot learn how to make a photograph. It is an intuitive thing. Students beg to please others with their work. The rest beg to please themselves. The transition is invisible - despite the protestations of those who claim to be continuously learning. If you are learning, and asking for critique is desirable to you, then it should continue. And it does. If you are content with your pictures and simply present them for viewing by others, equally well and good - but if you read the critiques, you're only kidding yourself! All my opinion of course. With due respect, Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| www.macads.co.uk/snaps _____________________________ Free UK Mac Ads www.macads.co.uk
