Professional critique of photos
I got a suggestion through from my dear friend Hilary, who suggested that I start doing photography critiques on a serious level. I.e, people submit a few photos to us, and we go through them with a fine-tooth comb, making suggestions for improvement: explaining which bits of the photos are good and why, and how they could be improved.
I don’t think it’s such a bad idea, actually. It’ll be quite a lot of work on my part, but I could get other photographers involved. What do you reckon? Vote below, and add a comment if you have more to say.
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Also, if you’re interested in getting some photos critiqued, why not consider sending me 3-4 of your photos, and I’ll pilot it with a few critiques, so people can find out what they can expect, and how well this works.
Please only send RGB JPEG files (any resolution is OK), and only use the hajejan+critique@gmail.com e-mail address, so I can keep it all in one place. I’m unlikely to ridicule anyone submitting photos, but can’t guarantee it :)
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This entry is © Haje Jan Kamps / Photocritic.org, and was posted on Wednesday, December 13th, 2006. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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#1 - December 13th, 2006 at 19:23
I really like the idea as I have seen this in a English Photographers Magazine.
They offer the same service and I always were hoping that I could find such a service that I could use …
Maybe I am going to take a Picture of mine and send it to you to get you started ;)
#2 - December 13th, 2006 at 21:27
I’ve noticed that when people are given the opportunity to critique the photos of others they can become quite the (if you’ll pardon my French) trou de cul. For example, they give inappropriately scathing non-constructive critiques of novice work. Or they make pedantic technical suggestions, such as a different aperture that could have been used, and tacitly suggest that the photo is crap because the photographer failed to use said aperture. Or they take a photo out of context and call a advertising shot “posed” or a candid shot “sloppy”.
I suppose what I’m saying is that we don’t need a clone of the critiques at photo.net. It would be helpful if people could receive criticism appropriate for their experience level and artistic intentions.
#3 - December 13th, 2006 at 21:41
I think you are on to something, SJD - and that’s sort of why I’m doing this not as an open photo critique, but as a more closed, controlled form. I hope to be using the critiques as sort of a learning device, and using them as more generic idea landscapes and as excuses to link to tutorials, advice, inspirational photos, and all that jazz.
Of course, It’s going to be a little while before I iron out all the kinks, but I think I’m going to try 3 or so critiques, and see where it takes me.
In a way, I believe that genuine, well-meant photo criticism might be a platform which would be conductive to something that can be readable, educational, and interesting, rather than a slagging match or an outlet for pedantry and an excuse for being a cockface.
I’d be the first to admit that I’ve been guilty of behaviour you mention above before, but I think I’ve grown up since then - to be fair, I’ve got nothing to prove: I know I’m not the best photographer in the world. hell, I’m distinctly average. On the other hand, I have an ability to describe stuff with words, and perhaps that might be what is missing - it seems to be working, judging from the number of people who keep coming back to this blog, so who knows.
Ultimately, I just like trying new things, and airing new ideas :)
#4 - December 14th, 2006 at 02:10
i e-mailed you four pictures, from guitarryter at yahoo dot com.
this seems like a really good idea!
#5 - December 14th, 2006 at 02:23
I think I’m guilty of not reading closely enough. For some reason I interpreted your post to mean that it would be an open forum where anybody could be a critic. I didn’t want to give you the impression that I was insinuating that you’d be a cockface critic.
It would be nice if there was an open forum for photo criticism where critics posted thoughtful, well considered criticism (neither screeds nor fawning kudos). Unfortunately, once you open the doors and invite the internet community in, it’s tough to control the contributions of the masses. Doing so is like herding cats. Unpredictable, misanthropic, anonymous cats.
#6 - December 14th, 2006 at 09:35
That seems like a really good idea to me and as an intermediate photographer I’d really like to get some photos of mine criticised by someone who really knows something about photography.
Would it be possible to gather a sort of trusted reviewers ring that basically anyone can join, but you’d have to send x amount of photos that were first reviewed by someone like you Haje, just to make sure that not anyone with a “great artistic vision” could comment on your photos. So that there would be say 10-20 people with permission to criticize the reader pictures in an open forum? Or maybe even more, so that there would possibly be a bit of discussion about the photos amongst the critics.
In short: You’d have to qualify your self to critic other peoples photos.
Did that make any sense???
#7 - December 14th, 2006 at 10:40
That’s a pretty good idea, Osku! I might invite a couple of other photographers to do that eventually. As I say though, for now it’s merely a pilot project, and a platform for writing blog entries, rather than a fully-fledged photo critique.
Thanks for the tip though, I’ll look into it. Sounds like a lot of work, because I don’t think it would work in a blog format if we have more than, say, 2 critiques a week or so.
- Haje
#8 - December 14th, 2006 at 11:43
Thanks for the offer; it’s a good idea (especially given the site name…). Regarding SuperJDynamite’s comment:
Critques on the technical aspect like aperture used can be constructive as well. For example, if the photo is a portrait, suggesting a softer background and using an open aperture to get it would be appropriate.
#9 - December 14th, 2006 at 21:16
[...] Photocritic photography blog The Photocritic DIY photography projects blog « Professional critique of photos Replacing a removed IR filter » [...]
#10 - December 15th, 2006 at 03:25
“In short: You’d have to qualify your self to critic other peoples photos.”
Amazon.com lets anybody review items for sale. They also let people review the review with the “was this review useful” button. A similar meta-review might be useful in an open forum.
“Critques on the technical aspect like aperture used can be constructive as well.”
I have no doubt that criticism of any kind, even criticism that’s overall negative, can be constructive.
#11 - December 15th, 2006 at 08:06
[...] Today’s topic came about after I was sent some fabulous images through from Ben Darfler, as part of our photo critique series. He sent me 4 excellent photos, and I picked two that illustrate a common theme: How to expose a photo correctly. [...]
#12 - August 31st, 2007 at 00:11
I’m a little embarrassed! I found this site by googling “photo critique” and got the previous page. I had no idea how rich and full of information this site is! It’s wonderful!