(Sure, that was just a brief critique! We can talk more and much more about point(s) of interest, semidiagonals and quarterdiagonals in your shot, about weight of planes... and so on, and so on... but not on english... or at least with some good translator!)
And hey, at least the bull isn't breaking the law... If the student "just happened" upon this - pretty unlikely I think - it's just a bit too pedestrian a shot in my book. Give him a "C". Maybe. If, on the other hand, there's any foreknowledge or direction, then he's an accessory to the crime and more trouble than he's worth.
Obviously marginal SAT scores not withstanding, his personal opinion isn't worth squat beyond his personal space.
Of course, neither, probably, is mine! I do like the Bull, though!
I have sat though hours and hours of crit's and the what the College student said was not worthy of a response. There was nothing he said that was applicable to the photograph. He criticized the photo all right but he didn't critique it. It's probably due to a lack of education and experience that he couldn't muster up any real information.
I like the photograph because it takes me to a place in the imagination that is full of mystery and adventure and has a little anxiety due to the fog. It's both mysterious and anticipatory all at once and that gives it drama. There is a tension of being behind the Animal and feeling that he Animal is small in comparison to the environment. It could be a metaphor for the the squeeze that the man made world is putting on the Animal kingdom. The softness of the fog and the smoothness of the image combine to project this feeling which is done very nicely to achieve the result.
Regards,
TR
the most important part of a critique is discussing the criticality (doye) of the photo...at least in terms of post modern photography class hulabaloo
I think it's really too hard to crit stuff on websites and message boards for a couple reasons-
you're not speaking to the person face to face so there can be misunderstandings in whats typed
you dont know what the person is expecting from a crit, and there are definitely different ideas out there of what a proper crit entails
i got a bfa in photo; I know I like people to explain what the idea is of the photograph, and then hear if other people can get that idea from the photo...thats how i learned my standards. its pretty simple, but having photographs that are CRITICAL is the most important part of a crit, trying to crit photographs that are taken for pleasure or ones that are taken with a concept of sight seeing are too hard because there isnt really anywhere the photograph can go in terms of critical discussion, you can talk about the technical aspects and the composition but thats really it and IMHO why great photographs are great has a lot to do with the ideas behind them and not only the visual pleasure they provide (both are important to me)
the standards by which everyone judges whats a 'good' photo and a 'bad' photo are always going to be different. most photo forums/clubs are filled with expertly made photographs in terms of composition and technicallity but I dont like 99% because they lack criticality, thats not to say they are 'bad' its just standards (and im not saying mine are higher or lower, just different) are different for everyone...
Last edited by Daniel Otranto; 19-Jun-2006 at 17:47.
I think the last thing you want to do is post your photos on a message board and ask people what they think; it's just simply one of those things where too many people want to tell you what's "wrong" with what you're doing. It's how YOU feel about your photographs. I'm not one to follow rules and techniques that have been laid out by others. Yes, indeed, you have to LEARN the things about photography that allow you to control it, but composition, etc., is for YOU to decide. If someone like Nan Goldin were to post her photos at a place like this, they'd be torn to shreds and probably called "amateur." When you've shot something that makes you feel right, then you've got it, despite the so-called "rules," and so forth.
J LEE - Two, I think, would stand the gaff: HCB, who's moments are on the genuinely real end of surreal. Eugene Atget, who, I swear, must have painted rather than photographed....just plain surreal. Of course, more come to mind but like you say, most can be picked-at, i.e. much of EW's far as I'm concerned.
Just a brain fart on my part - I am totally unqualified to judge, but do anyway.
I would offer a different opinion than some of the above, and suggest that getting comments on the Web is valuable - if 1) you have a thick skin and can take a bashing and say, "Thanks for your comments" without arguing or trying to justify what you did, and 2) if you view the pool of comments as a whole, and looks for "averages".
Although some do photography as a means of personal self-expression, and don't care what anyone else thinks, it's mostly a communication medium. As such, even the opinion of the average, untrained Joe or Jill on the street can hint whether your method of communication is working. The trick, again, is not to take individual comments personally (even if expressed in very personal terms), but rather view them as individual data points.
What's been touched on here is that there a lot ways to critique a photograph, and there are a lot of different things you might hope to learn from a critique. So don't be presumptuous.
If you want someone to critique something of yours, be specific about what you're asking for. If all you want to know is if your edge burning serves the image--or if it stands a chance of selling at a craft fair, or if MoMA might be interested, or if it fits your current body of work--then say so. Each of these specific questions will lead to very different kinds of conversations.
Likewise, before critiquing someone else's work, take the trouble to ask them what they're looking for.
These simple questions work wonders.
For some guidance and a reality check on criticism, see:
Tom Wolfe, _The Painted Word_
Susan Sontag, _On Photography_
Nathan Lyons, _Photographers on Photography_
and anything by David Vestal.
Michael
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