Everyone gets a trophy

Don_ih said:

No, I don't think it does. The reason? It just doesn't matter. There are important things in life - in the world, in your immediate vicinity, and so on - your gripe isn't one of them.

I could just as easily ask why you're insisting on drawing attention to yourself and a superior attitude that is not supported by evidence. What makes you an authority on anything other than complaining?

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I have no intent on drawing attention. I am not an authority on anything. Just expressing an opinion. For some that seems to be waving the cat’s rectum I guess.

Pieter12 said:

I have no intent on drawing attention. I am not an authority on anything. Just expressing an opinion. For some that seems to be waving the cat’s rectum I guess.

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In fairness, I don't think that's true in this thread.

It's one thing to say, "I don't like X", which is a statement of personal preference.

It's quite another say, "I think that is objectively crap and I cannot grasp why anyone would make it public." That is a normative statement.

I think what you're hearing from most of us is not hostility, but a gentle nudge to suggest that it is generally a bad idea to use one's opinion as a standard of judgment. That's all.

Go take pictures

chuckroast said:

OK, here is an anthology of what I consider to be the better corners of my work over the past 50 years, all scans of silver prints. There are a stinkers in there as well, for reasons that will remain unexplained.

I'm sharing it because (mostly) I like these a lot. Is that sufficient justification in your view? I'm not principally interested in whether you like these, only whether or not "I like these and thought I'd share" is sufficient to share with the class.

Workbook Print Scans - Home

(Oh, and for the record, at least one person I've run into on the Internet- and whom I've never met - thinks the later stuff is complete trash and that I am - and I quote - "a complete fraud" (I assume as a photographer, not as a human being).

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You've got it. Not all (but most) to my taste, but the magic is there.

Brendan Quirk said:

You've got it. Not all (but most) to my taste, but the magic is there.

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Thank you. But at least one person thought it was photographic fraud and thus "crap"


(If you click on an image and hit the 'i' button, you can see what year and month the image was made. I use this to remind myself of an evolving POV.)

chuckroast said:

In fairness, I don't think that's true in this thread.

It's one thing to say, "I don't like X", which is a statement of personal preference.

It's quite another say, "I think that is objectively crap and I cannot grasp why anyone would make it public." That is a normative statement.

I think what you're hearing from most of us is not hostility, but a gentle nudge to suggest that it is generally a bad idea to use one's opinion as a standard of judgment. That's all.

Go take pictures

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If you read the original post, the only reference to crap is my own work. Others have turned and twisted and misinterpreted that original, although cranky, statement.

Pieter12 said:

People can post whatever they want, just trying to understand the why.

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Try posting into some forums a complete piece of crap that you were going to toss in the trash, and be amazed how many folks will rave about it and manage in to see all types of meaning in it.

It's an amazing circle jerk out there sometimes.

Pieter12 said:

Well, if that's your opinion, don't go waving it in my face then.

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Perfect! Thanks!

Most people untrained in looking at photographs see and react to the subject, not image quality. Having photographed National Parks and overseas, it is easy to notice that many people treat such photos as a travel show...if they have been there or want to go there, they love the photo(s) no matter how badly composed.

One of my instructors at uni (Thomas Joshua Cooper) stated at the beginning of the class that there were to be no photographs of baby or kittens. I believe he thought of such images as low-hanging fruit and wanted something deeper from us students. I do not believe he had either kids or kittens at the time.

And humans are social story tellers. If it tells a story, a photo does not have to be technically perfect, or even close to be appreciated. My images usually do not have the hand of human in them, as they often become the subject of the photo to most viewers. I am often telling a story about the light and place, and do not want the interchange muddied up with too many other stories.