Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/07/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Alastair Firkin <firkin@ncable.net.au> wrote: > but it means that all of you who would like to see > a prospective mass of images representing the first 5 years of this > "age" get out there, record, document, experiment, and SUBMIT. Hmmm... for the benefit of potential FOM2 contributors, allow me to share my experiences from my participation in the project last year. Initially I was quite enthusiastic when I found out about it as I do a lot of everyday-life candid people photography as an after-work hobby. When I contacted Mr Firkin he was quite enthusiastic in having me participate too. So over the space of a few months I submitted over 20 images and after a few misunderstandings (Leica shots only, only those taken after a certain date etc.), 21 images were part of the final selection to be submitted to the (anonymous) judges. I was quite hopeful that 2-4 would make the final cut of 100. In fact, only 1 image made it. Out of 21 submissions... Hmmm... so I bit my lip and consoled myself with the thought that perhaps the field of entries were so strong that my material just wasn't good enough (which is odd actually, considering that I make a living with my photography and more than a few high profile www-sites - even Leica's - link to my images). So I went and had a look at the 100 "winners". Gasp. No matter how hard I tried to look at it objectively, almost a third of the final 100 were so substandard that it is clear the FOM judges' idea of good (or even competent) photography and mine were completely at odds. From what I could figure out, judging criteria was based solely on the following: o B&W trumps colour - grainy Tri-X gets extra marks o highest marks accrue to the person with the widest angle lens (surely it is no coincidence that my only accepted image - a 360-degree panorama - was the widest-angle shot submitted by anyone?) o don't bother to compose or frame or even straighten the camera - the larger and more random the tilt the more worthy the image o don't bother about timing or focus - if the "light is good" (whatever that means) then it doesn't matter that to the uninitiated the shot is just a meaningless blur. o a photograph of a person from behind (preferably *of* their behind) is more valuable than any shot from the front or side where you can see their face o 3rd-world images, preferably of peasant children, will always trump anything taken in the west o all readily identifiable Noctilux images make the cut by default Of course this is not an exhaustive list. But it was instructive enough for me to realise that my participation in this project was a total waste of time. So I smiled, shook my head and dropped out. Hope this helps others who are maybe thinking of participating. Andrew N. <http://nemeng.com> - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html