Yes, but some of us actually like your stuff.
frank theriault wrote:
On Mon, 3 Jan 2005 10:40:38 +0000, Bob W <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
yes, I guess so. I wasn't suggesting it was something I would do though. I don't enter competitions. If I did it would be as a means to improving my photography, not simply a desire to enter something and win.
I'm very used to submitting work of various types for review and criticism. In the case of something personal, such as my photography, I wouldn't take any notice of somebody whose judgement I didn't respect.
As an example, I would almost certainly not pay any attention whatsoever to the opinion of a local camera club judge. On the other hand, I once had some feedback from the curator of photography at a national museum - a man who is very well connected to the world of photojournalism that I admire. I took his opinions very seriously, and acted on them*.
I think it's very important for us to have well qualified people comment on our work. They have the breadth of knowledge and experience to put our work in its proper context, and to be realistic without the subjective attachment that we have to our own work. But of course, it's our opinion that matters most, and we take the final decisions.
*I still have some cameras, so his opinion wasn't too harsh!
I'm glad that you distinguished between judges and critics. I drafted a post on that very subject several times, but trashed it each time, as I could get my thoughts organized.
While I don't think much of art competitions, I think very highly of art criticism. Or rather, there are some critics who I think highly of. Some are on this list, in fact.
cheers, frank
--
I can understand why mankind hasn't given up war. During a war you get to drive tanks through the sides of buildings and shoot foreigners - two things that are usually frowned on during peacetime.
--P.J. O'Rourke
