Your favorite “go-to” people when you’re looking for criticism of your work

[Asher Kelman]

Were you replying or did you believe you had to hit quote in order to post?

Maybe I just should have said

NOT gods gift

All the folk I'd ask would have first to come under the category you outlined. That's why I quoted you.

It just qualifies them at the minimum level. I don't mind a pilot or a surgeon being humorless. In fact, that might be an advantage. For an art critic, some sense of modesty and humor is likely to promote more useful feedback. It also removes shallow, dogmatic and rule-based reflex reactions that most often, serve no purpose other than the ego of the reviewer.

Asher

[Heroique]

I agree with the spirit of Sun and Asher’s remarks.

The style & presentation of criticism deserve careful attention, but they’re easy to overlook when one is zealous to help. A good critic might know what suggestions to offer, but the very best critic – before offering them – takes into account his listener’s sensitivities and adjusts his delivery.

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

[mandoman7]

If art is communication, then it seems appropriate to have in mind just who the audience is for the points you're making. Work that's created to get kudo's from your fellow students at the big city art school won't go over that well with family and friends in the hinterlands. Work that gets good responses in the image sharing section of this forum may not be successful in a gallery setting, as another example.

People obviously have different perspectives when viewing work, but the tricky part is juxtaposing where they're coming from in relation to what you're trying to do. Of course, knowing what you're trying to do can be a challenge in and of itself.

[sun of sand]

All the folk I'd ask would have first to come under the category you outlined. That's why I quoted you.

It just qualifies them at the minimum level. I don't mind a pilot or a surgeon being humorless. In fact, that might be an advantage. For an art critic, some sense of modesty and humor is likely to promote more useful feedback. It also removes shallow, dogmatic and rule-based reflex reactions that most often, serve no purpose other than the ego of the reviewer.

Asher

ohhhh
difficult to tell


I like funny pilots
I like selfdepricating humour in general
it shows confidence

[WootSK]

I like to ask fellow photographers for technical breakdown about my photos like composure, lighting and how he thinks it can be better. Then I like to ask people who doesn't knows much technical details about a photo to give layman comment about my photos (I once asked a fast food cashier to comment on one of my photos while buying a meal). Then extract both comment and filter the comments to see how I can make a better one next time like a after action review.

[Gem Singer]

I'm my own worst critic.

[Brian C. Miller]

The hardest part of critiqueing a photograph is knowing what is and isn't good in the photo. What I mean is that part of a photo may be good, and another part may be bad. I might say that a photo is good, but I'll have something niggling at the back of my mind about the bad part, but I can't express it because I don't know what it is.

[NoBob]

Me.

[Brian Ellis]

I often ask my wife's opinion, especially if I'm torn between two versions of the same photograph. She's not a photographer but has good visual sense whatever exactly that is.

I recently had a portfolio critique by Mark Citret. I thought he did a great job. John Sexton gives the best critiques of anyone I know of but I can't exactly pop into his house and ask for a critique.

[Drew Bedo]

I participate off and on in The Houston Photographic Society. This is a print exhibition club in the Houston area that brings in a juror or jusdge each month. We may bring in two prints for judging. There is public give and take moderated by the juror and a ranking of the top three prints in several catagories.

The judges remarks are important to me (depending on who it is that month) but—the most helpful thing is to see my work displayed next to the work of many other photographers.

Another club activity is a portfolio review in the fall. They bring in several reviewers (six or so) and w bring in a body of work, usually 8-15 prints. We get 10-15 min of consultation with a reviwer. Portfolio is presented to a reviewer in rotation till we run out of time at the community center whee we meet.

Another source of critical feed-back for me has been the Houston Center for Photography. There is an informal critique group on the first Tuesday evening of the month. The moderator is the Centers Exhibition co-ordinatoer. Each pparticipant brings in samples of their current work as prints of digital files, and we all talk about what is shown.

As for family: Our sone once looked over a selection o fmy prints (hay bales in late afternoon sunlight) and said, "Dad, WHAT were you thinking? I mean, what was going through your HEAD?"