[Leica] Re: comments from one of the judges

[walt at waltjohnson.com (Walt Johnson)]

Monti

The Fine Art genre. That  makes all the difference in the world. 
Naturally, had I known we were going to move into such a creative, 
complex and deep subject such as fine art I'd have been more respectful. 
:-)       I will admit, though, to having an early on love affair with 
/*art photography*/ before becoming tainted with journalism. I was 
fortunate enough. to see, handle, and be partially responsible for shows 
by Ansel Adams, Brett and Edward Weston, Minor White, Dave Heath and 
others. They were, as I'm sure you know, the backbone of what came to be 
called art photography.

It now seems as if every Tom, Dick and Honey carrying an overpriced 
camera is into art photography. Either that or heaven forbid, 
photojournalism. Believe me, I've nothing against art. Even been known 
to enter (and win) a few art contests but that wasn't the issue with my 
post concerning our contest. One has only to pick up a copy of Black and 
White magazine to become all to familiar with fine art photography. The 
back twenty-five percent of that bastion of photo art is filled with 
"struggling artists". Mostly, it seems, they  are listed as fine art 
photographers rather than dabblers, dilettantes or just plain wishful 
thinkers.  Psychology, culture, life experience, education and insights 
aside, I was not caught up in a  fine art versus the rest of us 
routine.  What we manage to post on a monthly basis is quite far afield 
from /*art*/. You, me, and ll the rest do o.k., but fine art? I think 
not. Occasionally one of  us may stir the graphics pot and pull out a 
nice image but I'd be remiss if I tried to classify any of us as artists.

One more thing before returning to my state of lethargy and inaction. 
There are plenty of LUGGERS burning up a lot of film (or pixels for our 
less fortunate compatriots) on a constant basis. Rather than 
encouraging  more film to be wasted  I'd hope the contest  causes  us to 
think before we click.  Intent, content and after it's all over, repent. 
:-P

Walt


Montie wrote:
>  If Walt, a
> career photojournalist, looks at some Fine Art
> images and feels they are "Heavy on graphics and generally light on 
> content"
> is anyone surprised?  After all, there is no
> "defining moment" ...different genre altogether.  Others with different
> experiences may interpret those same images as
> having powerful themes with rich content...so what?  Should we care?
>
> Years back, when not flailing around on a flight deck, or on an extended
> combat camera assignment, I taught photo courses
> for many years (earning extra geeters as a contract instructor for Central
> Texas College and City Colleges of Chicago AS in
> Photography Programs) When my students would get into it  I.e. "how'd this
> guy win a Pulitzer when this guy's work is clearly
> superior"...etc etc, I would explain the age old adage that photography is 
> a
> language of the senses and that viewing it, to a
> large degree, depends for effect on the psychology, culture, and experience
> of the viewer, which may be quite different from
> those of other viewers or of the photographer himself.  It would then get
> quiet, and I could go out for a ciggy :-)  The point...
> sure, sometimes there's a clear winner, but when several strong entries are
> in the running, the inadvertent subjectivity of the
> judges will usually prevail...or point #2...maybe the best photograph
> doesn't always win...because there isn't one  ;-)
>
> My understanding as to the original purpose of the LUG contest was to 
> induce
> more Luggers to get out there and shoot and
> have some fun with a little competition.  To that end IMO it's a success 
> and
> will only get better if we keep the ego factor low
> and the FUN factor high.  Can the guide lines improve?  Sure!  Will 
> everyone
> be happy?  Of course not.  I have just one
> suggestion:  Brian has conveniently built a suggestion feature into the
> contest website, let's use it.  Judges should briefly describe
> why they felt the images they selected were good.
>
> A final word on my very unpopular winner this month.  I did screw up the
> title...my orig idea was "In memory of those who have
> fallen"  but I hate long titles. "Kristy Prep" was my fav for the month
> also.  It was posted early in the month and I remember
> telling my better half that I felt it would be a winner.
>
> Montie
>
>
>   
>> Walt wrote:
>>     
>
>   
>> It seems many of our winners fit into the same category on a monthly
>>     
> basis. Heavy on graphics and generally light on content. I'd prefer to
> see judging based upon capturing those moments Leicas were made for.
> /*Kristy Prep, */I think is an excellent example and would have put it
> as #1. Although agreeing with the judge who thinks it's the best I can't
> go along with his/her criticism. Dead space is something one deals with
> with filling newspapers with images. What it generally means is we need
> more space for ads, let's crop the hell out of everything. Sometimes, I
> think, the eye needs a place to rest on an image. /*Kristy*/ can be
> cropped but it loses an overall balance. Make it tight enough and the
> hands seem to emerge from some dark place in a not too comfortable
> manner. Ofter talking too much about an image does seem to detract. When
> we can simply look and absorb. Unlike our judge, the hands don't MAKE it
> for me. It is Kristy's acquiescences to the routine I find  has me
> involved.
>
> /*Hot Lips*/, on the other hand could sure use a bit of tightening up.
> Nice image, great expression, but too loose. Steve's other image,/*White
> Crosses*/, should have been a winner. Content, which fits the contest
> criteria. Not that a monthly category should be limiting, but sometimes
> a category does add a bit of discipline.
>
> Mad's  /*Aros*/. to me, is more interesting than what placed first.
> Graphic, mysterious and intriguing. Neal's /*Boom*,/ has great timing
> and color. Degree of difficulty on that shot should count for something.
> William's /*Colameter */and Neal's /*Barnflag */jumped out at me as well.
>
> One other thing. Steve's self-portrait with the red hat. how the heck
> did he do that?
>
> Walt
>
> Brian Reid wrote:
>   
>> I was pleased to see that 81 images had been submitted in April, the
>> highest number ever. However, I found the overall quality of the
>> images in the April contest below the level of previous months. In
>> going through the images, I could only award one or two stars to most
>> images, with just a few getting 3 stars. In contrast, in previous
>> months I have often given out 4 or 5 stars to the images I liked best.
>>
>> I think that the theme "red" was interpreted too literally by many
>> contestants. As a result, there are many mediocre images that I think
>> were entered only because there was something red in them. I would
>> encourage people to interpret the theme more broadly in the future,
>> especially since Brian has instructed the judges to simply rate the
>> images on their photographic merits and not on how closely they follow
>> the theme.
>>
>> On the positive side: the images that appear among the winners and
>> honorable mentions were also my favorites, so I guess I was in synch
>> with the other judges (and I do not know who they are). The winning
>> image is a beautiful abstract, well lit and well composed, although
>> the title seems a bit out of place, given the connotations of the
>> phrase. I also gave 3 stars to "Hot Lips"--just a fun portrait, well
>> photographed.
>>
>> My overall favorite image of the contest, though, was the third-place
>> image, "Kristy Prep". I like the light, the way the woman's face
>> stands out, and one can interpret the image on many levels: is she an
>> object being prepared for exhibition? The hands applying the make-up
>> greatly add to the image, indeed they MAKE the image, for me at least.
>> Personally, I would crop the image a bit tighter; there is a lot of
>> dead space on the top and left sides of the image which detracts from
>> the composition.
>>     
>
>
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