Competitions can be a way for photographers to get their work assessed in relation to others, and even have their work seen by a wider audience. But are the judging criteria necessarily valid? Ed Fetahovic gives his take in an article at Medium.
No matter the outcome of any competition, it’s likely that many of us question the wider decisions made by jurors– and the reality of the matter is, it’s really only ever up to individual tastes and understanding which leads to these results. I see no point in questioning the finalists as they stand and respect the outcomes presented. What I would however, like to bring attention to and place some concern around, is the wider meaning and impact a select group of images can have on the approach and thinking of our up and coming contemporary photographers.
I think his concerns are legitimate. Click through to the article for the full story.
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Dan Ginn over at The Phoblographer is rightly concerned that the way social media is structured might be making us too sensitive to criticism of our creative work. It's a valid point, and I applaud his resolve to counter this trend in his own interactions. I'm aware, however, that doing so requires a far greater investment of time than just clicking a 'like' button on someone's social media post.
Going forward I’m going to give detailed feedback for the work that is shared in my online circles. I want to move away from this basic approach of patting photographers on the back.
I have tried this approach myself (although I admit the feedback I've provided could hardly be described as 'detailed'). And although in my case (particularly on my Instagram page) I found it did indeed elevate the quality of my interactions with people, it also took up a lot of time.
These are the finished pics of November's Winchester Skeptics event: Can you be brainwashed in 60 minutes? (Click on the image to see the full set.)
By serendipitous coincidence I saw a Facebook post about this Guardian article while listening to the latest episode of Valérie Jardin's podcast Hit the Streets. In the article Anita Chaudhuri relates what it was like to be mentored in street photography in Paris, and subsequently one-on-one online.
It’s a Sunday morning and I’m on Rue Mouffetard, a bustling market street in Paris, skulking behind a pyramid of nectarines. My sights are set on a fluffy black poodle nuzzling the ankles of its owner, a stripey-trousered woman of a certain age. Raising my camera to my eye, I risk a few furtive shots but, irritatingly, the poodle keeps scampering out of the frame. Its mistress is engaged in animated banter with a guy tending a rack of roast chickens. Promising. But, spying the camera, he throws his hands in front of his face.
There are many photography groups and pages on Facebook, but members of the Hit the Streets With Valérie Jardin Facebook group consistently post some of the most interesting examples of street photography and the group is well worth following.
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Paul S. JenkinsPaul is a writer, photographer, and erstwhile podcaster Archives
April 2022
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