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Re: [OM] Junk or treasure

Subject: Re: [OM] Junk or treasure
From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 06 Oct 2002 20:51:10 -0500
At 20:29 10/5/02, Ag-Schnozz continued stirring:

Nice to see this thread get some mileage.

Is "technical quality" superior to "artistic quality"?

IMO, no.  Both have very nearly equal importance for different reasons.

If all of us gathered for an outdoor adventure to the same park one day and saw a really neat tree I can guarantee that we would (unless influenced by others) select different lenses, viewpoints, films, and settings to photograph that tree.

Yes, you'd get as many different photographs as there are photographers.

During the followup slide show where we all compare pictures, which photographs will stand out in our minds as being THE photograph. Will it be the one that is "technically perfect"? Or is it the one that evokes an emotion? Will we notice the contrast, sharpness or color correctness or are you suddenly transported by time and place to that park?

It depends entirely on the person viewing the photographs. Having been through juried shows, judging is very fickle (an understatement). Each has their own, unique value system for rating and ranking photographs and there seems to be near zero consistency among them ("arbitrary and capricious" comes to mind). Some favor abstraction, some favor very deliberate composition and lighting control, and others favor candid "grab shots" taken on the fly. They all bring their own baggage, and don't check it at the door. The general public does the same thing. Each viewer would see and react to each image differently because each has a unique set of life experiences within which the viewing experience itself must be integrated. These differences can be great or small (sometimes very small).

My best guess: Those images that evoke the strongest emotions perceived as worthy or beneficial by most viewers, and have solid technical strength would emerge as the BEST photographs. Technically weak photographs inherently do not have the emotive strength they could have; they do not reach their full potential. Technical "flaws" are a detractor. In my veiwing of a photograph, its emotive power is realized first unless there is a glaring flaw that overwhelms its message. Then The Photographer kicks in; it's reverse engineered and technical details are examined.

AG-(stir, stir, stir)-Schnozz

"Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble . . ."

-- John


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