On Sun, 6 May 2001, Len Paris wrote:
> If honest commentary is unwelcome, then why bother to have
> public commentary at all?
Do you think that honest commentary can only be phrased in a rude and
confrontational manner? I've noticed that honest comments phrased
constructively go over very well with the photographers. I found Shel's
comments to be extremely constructive, but objective-sounding value
judgments like "It's like a million other pictures of little or no
significance" suggest that the photo itself is worth nothing to
anyone, and can come across as unnecessarily harsh as well as
untrue. It's a shame that comments like this can draw everyone's
attention away from the rest of the review, which was very well thought
out and constructive. It's possible, however, to phrase
subjective opinions like that in a manner that is less likely to offend
people, while still conveying the same amount of information. There is a
middle ground between direct/harsh and sweetness/light and Shel, except
for one or two slips that were promptly jumped on, found the middle ground
and received good on-list responses from the photographers whose works he
reviewed.
> The e-mail address with each PUG entry should be enough invitation to
> comment. If folks aren't sending you comments on your pictures,
> perhaps they find them unworthy of comment. The term "pedestrian"
> comes to mind, along with the word "un-inspiring".
So you're not volunteering to become a commentator, eh? <g> Did it occur
to you that the purpose of commenting is not just to talk about unusual or
outstanding photos, but to provide enough feedback to uninspiring, bland
photos that the photographer might improve to the point where their shots
become unusual and outstanding? Correct me if I'm wrong, but your
position seems to be a rather elitist one. Before you jump on this,
there's nothing wrong with elitism in some forums, but I don't want the
PUG comments to be one of these forums.
chris
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