On 9/20/2011 11:35 AM, Bob W wrote:
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
Darren Addy
I think you've misunderstood the function of critics. Are you
suggesting
that noone should criticise something unless they have personally
done
better? That would be absurd.
I am suggesting that I personally value Accomplishment, no matter how
small, over Criticism (no matter how highly-regarded).
The function of critics is to provide an opinion for those with an
insufficient mental capacity to form one of their own.
that's probably the most arrogant thing I've ever read on the PDML.
Congratulations.
While both of those statements are markworthy, neither is entirely
correct. Since I'm too cheap to pay for cable, I don't get any TV
reception at my house, so I have very little idea what movies are
playing, or worth watching. I find that the movie critics in the local
entertainment magazines very helpful. For example if Lisa Jensen rates
a move three stars (out of four) and then complains about excessive
pyrotechnics, or some other way in which it is politically correct, I'll
probably enjoy it. One or two stars with the same commentary, I won't.
Four stars and extolling it's artistic virtues, or political
correctness, and I won't particularly enjoy it, though my girlfriend might.
These movie critics help me optimize my spending, on movies that I'll
enjoy. I suspect that if I were considering plopping down $100, or even
$K5 on a pair of concert tickets, I'd particularly want some idea
whether I'd enjoy the show.
And, lets face it, every time one of us comments on another's photo,
we're being critics. Note, however, in the case of the stairway to
nowhere, each version appealed to different people for different
reasons. Frankly, I don't really care whether what Adams did was art,
craftsmanship, or obsessive technical masturbation, I'd rather see some
beautiful, soulless craftsmanship than a steaming ugly pile of art.
I think that it's all too easy for people to forget the significance, 60
or 70 years later, of things that at the time were state of the art,
whether it's an Adams print or a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo. It's quite
possible that Mark could take his big Sony, drive out to glacier point
and take photos where the prints rival the technical quality of pictures
that Adams took 65 years ago, lugging 50 pounds of gear down a dirt
path, and then hand processing the film and prints in the darkroom. If
I nail the exposure of a photo, that's usually because I bracket the
hell out of it, and chimp the histogram. Adams would do so in one
exposure, metering the various portions of the scene and then adjusting
the processing of the film. I barely understand the zone system, he
bloody well invented it.
Similarly, just because I can plug 9.8 into 1/2At^2, and calculate how
far a rock will fall in t seconds, that doesn't make me Isaac Freakin'
Newton.
--
Larry Colen [email protected] (from dos4est)
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