writing about art (same as writing about photos).

jtk · Oct 2, 2018

https://mailchi.mp/7cb5da4e28e1/why-critical-writing-matters?e=6913cb1063

This discusses critical writing in The Magazine: a large, monthly high quality, full color arts magazine that's available for free all over Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The Magazine seems the ideal publication for artists/photographers, enthusiasts and collectors who live within driving distance from Santa Fe...or are among the throngs who travel there from afar to see what's going on in America's most overtly art-oriented city.

The Magazine is about much more than photography...I enjoy reading well-written articles about all sorts of arts and artists in fields about which I'd know little otherwise.

Santa Fe enjoys several nationally famous photo galleries, a couple of high-level photo supply companies, and many photographers who attend long, expensive seminars conducted by big-name photographers.

I wonder what you think about the editor's explanation for total absence of "attaboys" and occasional tough or conflicted reviews.

faberryman · Oct 2, 2018

I agree with this statement:

"Incessant cheerleading and mutual back-patting contribute to stagnation and complacency. Unmitigated honesty and constructive feedback are the only ways to encourage each other onward and upward."

Eric Rose · Oct 2, 2018

faberryman said:
I agree with this statement:

"Incessant cheerleading and mutual back-patting contribute to stagnation and complacency. Unmitigated honesty and constructive feedback are the only ways to encourage each other onward and upward."

You can add me to that sentiment.

Bob Carnie · Oct 2, 2018

faberryman said:
I agree with this statement:

"Incessant cheerleading and mutual back-patting contribute to stagnation and complacency. Unmitigated honesty and constructive feedback are the only ways to encourage each other onward and upward."

I agree , as long as constructive feedback is given and taken with respect

slackercrurster · Oct 2, 2018

Didn't read it, just a few lines...got ADD, too much for me. If it was audio I may listen to it.

People are free to criticize as they like. Intellectuals are the opposite of me, they love lots of words. I like books with photos and little words.

Critics know everything and can do nothing. That was what I told A.D. Colman before he wrote me to stop posting to his blog. They like kiss-ass, yes men. If you challenge their narrow views they don't like it.

The other thing is I operate at a very high level of expertise within in my little world of photography. There is not many people that can say much about it. Especially since they can't do better...or even do it at all.

Infrared flash (Candid)

'10 minutes after midnight'

slackercrurster · Oct 2, 2018

Now, the wordsmiths have to write, that is how they get through life. Just as we must press the button to figure things out.

Whether painter, draftsman, photographer, writer, musician, sculptor, actor or poet, artists use their art as a way to see, interpret and make sense of their world.

awty · Oct 2, 2018

Unprejudiced objective critiquing, that would be nice.

jtk · Oct 2, 2018

awty said:
Unprejudiced objective critiquing, that would be nice.

Maybe. But there's no such thing as objectivity or lack of prejudice. IMO many critics (not the Photrio kind) contribute to viewers' or readers' understanding and appreciation. For example, Anthony Burgess opened doors to both Shakespeare and James Joyce for many by writing about their work.

People who damn critics as a category almost always do it to seek approval...examples on this thread.

jtk · Oct 2, 2018

slackercrurster said:
Didn't read it, just a few lines...got ADD, too much for me. If it was audio I may listen to it.

People are free to criticize as they like. Intellectuals are the opposite of me, they love lots of words. I like books with photos and little words.

Critics know everything and can do nothing. That was what I told A.D. Colman before he wrote me to stop posting to his blog. They like kiss-ass, yes men. If you challenge their narrow views they don't like it.

The other thing is I operate at a very high level of expertise within in my little world of photography. There is not many people that can say much about it. Especially since they can't do better...or even do it at all.

Infrared flash (Candid)

'10 minutes after midnight'

Great photo!

Why would you bother to write to Coleman? Did he dislike your work? Did you follow his writing? I never did like anything about his work EXCEPT that he did get a lot of people talking about photography. Not on my West Coast, BTW...he was mostly an East Coast kind of guy.

He's a very obscure reference btw, dead for a thousand years. By posting about him you undoubtedly got a lot of people Googling for him

faberryman · Oct 2, 2018

N

jtk said:
He's a very obscure reference btw, dead for a thousand years. By posting about him you undoubtedly got a lot of people Googling for him

Not very obscure for those of us doing photography in the early 1970s and after.

Vaughn · Oct 2, 2018

Bob Carnie said:
I agree , as long as constructive feedback is given and taken with respect

I agree.

What they are writing sounds good to me, but personalities always seem to squeek in there somewhere! LOL! And with a stated mission to "champion New Mexico art and artists" some bias might...will...creep in. But over-all, sounds like a good thing and a fair warning to those they critique!

awty · Oct 2, 2018

jtk said:
Maybe. But there's no such thing as objectivity or lack of prejudice. IMO many critics (not the Photrio kind) contribute to viewers' or readers' understanding and appreciation. For example, Anthony Burgess opened doors to both Shakespeare and James Joyce for many by writing about their work.

People who damn critics as a category almost always do it to seek approval...examples on this thread.

As long as you know the writers predigests then thats fine, you can as a reader compensate for that.

jtk · Oct 9, 2018

Some critics are insightful, some carry on with jargon that is probably meaningful mostly to themselves. No problem either way. There's usually something to learn.

I was too dismissive of A.D. Coleman. Some photographers did appreciate him, some took him too seriously.

When I came across him in someone's Village Voice it seemed clear that he wasn't tuned into West Coast photography and was totally unaware of the kind of photographers who, like me, we're making livings with photo while, at the same time were deep into the art...who didn't do drone work (weren't anyone's employees) in order to support our art but in fact worked free lance for design an advertising people who often shared our approach to life. I think that, for people like us, A.D. Coleman may have been a minor Woody Allen..

writing about art (same as writing about photos).

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