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10/21/2004 05:01:04 PM · #1 |
Am I the only who thinks the challenges are getting more obscure?
Implied lines? Example is a line of trees...implied or man-made?
Most trees are planted by men, they plant in lines...therefore they are manmade, not implied. Rows of dots, they are not implied, they are manmade!
Poverty? Right, how many people are going to wander into a ghetto/slum to shot a poverty photograph? Yep, take £2K's worth of camera gear into a slum for a photograph...that's sensible.
Where are the simple, ordinary challenges? Have they all been exhausted? |
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10/21/2004 05:20:39 PM · #2 |
Nothing more to add. Totally agree.
Challenges are getting a bit strange.
I would say 'night shot', 'touch' are great.
'Textures', 'water' - something you can think, go and do.
Specially with some posts - if there will be no beggar on the pic you will be given '1', because nothing else shows Poverty as such.
I must say, I'm a bit demotivated by those themes.
Actually I don't mind doing some brainstorming to get some good ideas, but anything else then literal taking of subjects will get you low scores. Well, after all it's all about fun, I never took this site that deadly serious. Still I hope for some more open challenges.
Wu
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10/21/2004 06:02:08 PM · #3 |
Hear, hear. I was sort of thinking the same thing, but couldn't put my finger on it. I haven't submitted lately, mainly because the challenges are so obscure (or whatever word), though also I've been too busy with other things in life, otherwise I would have submitted to Night Shot.
But the challenges I've submitted to, AND FELT GOOD ABOUT, are Everyday Objects (pretty straightforward), Once in a Blue Moon (ok, the color blue people, nice and simple!!), and Macro IV (duh).
All these topics were nice simple ideas. I liked that. Textures, colors, framing, high key, low key, deep DOF, shallow DOF, motion blur. These all appeal to me but I can't put a finger on what EXACTLY the reason is. Something about the topic being straightforward and concrete, not abstract maybe? |
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10/21/2004 06:09:28 PM · #4 |
I can understand where you are coming from on this; there will always be some area's which we are more comfortable with than others.
However for me the challenge of the less comfortable areas is that I am challenged and stretched, and through this I hope to develop and improve my all round skills.
There is an old an old adage. - If you always do as you always did. You will always get what you always got.
Message edited by author 2004-10-21 18:10:15. |
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10/21/2004 07:28:40 PM · #5 |
I dont think they are getting strange just challenging. DPC afterall, stands for digital photography challenge, right?
Just bc everyone else might go into a 'slum' to take a shot for the poverty challenge doesnt mean YOU can;t be creative & do something else.
And BTW, the whole slum/ghetto comment is EXTREMELY classist of you. Dunno where you're from, but these days you dont have to go anywhere particular to find people living in poverty.
You can alway opt to not enter the challenges as well. Or better, yet, why not suggest a challenge less wierd by your standards. Suggestions are often implemented into real challenges as I have learned.
yep, that's my 2 cents!
Message edited by author 2004-10-21 19:29:28.
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10/21/2004 09:54:12 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Rooster:
...that's my 2 cents! |
With only two cents to offer, you might make a good subject for the Poverty challenge. ;-) |
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10/21/2004 09:58:08 PM · #7 |
There are plenty of shots for poverty in which YOU DONT NEED A HOMELESS PERSON.
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10/21/2004 10:04:46 PM · #8 |
I don't think that these challenges are so strange. Poverty doesn't just mean lack of money. It can mean lack of love too. To be absent of something, though being penniless is what you usually think of. There are a lot of ways to depict it though. Not just by showing an old man on a street corner. Take a friend, dress them up with make-up and place them on a park bench covered only by newspaper to keep out the cold if you want. Act out the scene.
In terms of "Implied Lines", that doesn't mean it has to be non man-made, or naturally occurring. It just means that it can't be a clearly defined line.
A line is defined as two point in space that are somehow connected. (not verbatum) Ostensibly then, an implied line would be just those two points, unconnected. Since I heard about this challenge, I've been seeing instances EVERYWHERE. Take your pic. A dotted line on a highway, a line of trees, a portion of a picket fence without the slats to connect them...Your choices are endless. Have fun with it.
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10/21/2004 10:06:54 PM · #9 |
Well I think thoose challenges are difficault
I dont fully understand what either of them mean except poverty = homeless person
Keep it simple please! :D
At least not so difficault words
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10/21/2004 10:13:36 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by heida:
Well I think thoose challenges are difficault
I dont fully understand what either of them mean except poverty = homeless person
Keep it simple please! :D
At least not so difficault words |
Heida;
If they were kept simple, they wouldn't be challenges. Read my post above yours. It expalains what the challenges mean. At least my interpretation (what I think it means)
I suggest that if people do choose something that is not easily understandable, that they put the word "Poverty" in the title, as in "Poverty of Knowledge", or "Poverty of Love"...
Heida, your work is wondeful - I'm sure you'll have no problems coming up with something beautiful.
Message edited by author 2004-10-21 22:14:55.
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10/22/2004 01:08:12 AM · #11 |
Originally posted by Rooster:
And BTW, the whole slum/ghetto comment is EXTREMELY classist of you. Dunno where you're from, but these days you dont have to go anywhere particular to find people living in poverty. |
Agreed, that certainly applies to the places I frequent in DC-Balt area.
If you don't like the challenge topics, the time and place to do something about them is when you see them appear in the Challenge Suggestions forum threads. The whole process of selecting topics is cloaked in secrecy but most seem to come almost verbatim from a Challenge Suggestions thread. When you see one that you think is totally bogus you should speak up in these threads. If people are too polite to say anything against a crappy suggestion it may well appear as a challenge before long. Most of the ones we think are weak could become acceptable, or even very interesting, if the thoughts that appear in the forums after they are announced were put forward at the time they are in the suggestion stage. |
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10/22/2004 02:01:42 AM · #12 |
The trouble with a lot of the challenges lately is because there are so many different views on topics its hard to know what to do In these topics really great images get overlooked.
I think they seem more obscure lately
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10/22/2004 02:13:54 AM · #13 |
To make the challenge more interesting we need to think of the synonyms of poverty:
Scarcity
Shortage
Deficiency
Lack
Dearth
Paucity
Poor quality – with some of my images I might win the blue with this meaning of poverty :) |
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10/22/2004 02:31:44 AM · #14 |
think IMPOVERISHED instead of poverty.
Deprived of natural richness or strength; limited or depleted: an impoverished vocabulary; a region impoverished by drought.
i see landscapes!
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10/22/2004 02:38:08 AM · #15 |
barren landscape, do you think this would fit the
poverty challenge, in view of the last post?
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10/22/2004 02:40:45 AM · #16 |
Originally posted by goodman:
barren landscape, do you think this would fit the
poverty challenge, in view of the last post?
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Possibly if you can convey what the land is deprived of. |
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10/22/2004 02:50:07 AM · #17 |
Deprived of natural richness or strength; limited or depleted: an impoverished vocabulary; a region impoverished by drought.
Possibly if you can convey what the land is deprived of.
so this image DOES NOT convey the above then?
Message edited by author 2004-10-22 02:50:38.
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10/22/2004 03:09:48 AM · #18 |
IMO the picture does not convey enough detail to draw me to these conclusions. Maybe it’s because of the photo processing. But I do agree that a landscape photo can represent poverty such as a picture of the ground cracked by drought, a lake or stream with the lack of water due to drought, even a contaminated landfill would IMO represent poverty.
Just my 2 cents worth.
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10/22/2004 03:13:41 AM · #19 |
What is this obsession some people seem to have about poverty = homeless people, tramps, hobos etc. Poverty is relative, you can be earning 50,000 a week, but if everyone else is earning 500,000 a week then you're living in relative poverty. There are many ways in which a person, animal or, as mentioned earlier, even a landscape could be described as impoverished. It doesn't have to be about social deprivation. I agree with all of the above who have reminded us that it's a "Challenge". Sorry, end of rant.
Message edited by author 2004-10-22 03:16:07. |
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10/22/2004 03:23:16 AM · #20 |
Originally posted by Russ:
What is this obsession some people seem to have about poverty = homeless people, tramps, hobos etc. Poverty is relative, you can be earning 50,000 a week, but if everyone else is earning 500,000 a week then you're living in relative poverty. There are many ways in which a person, animal or, as mentioned earlier, even a landscape could be described as impoverished. It doesn't have to be about social deprivation. I agree with all of the above who have reminded us that it's a "Challenge". Sorry, end of rant. |
I agree! Poverty is not directly related to money. Thats why i posted a synonym list:
To make the challenge more interesting we need to think of the synonyms of poverty:
Scarcity
Shortage
Deficiency
Lack
Dearth
Paucity
Poor quality – with some of my images I might win the blue with this meaning of poverty :) |
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10/22/2004 03:56:10 AM · #21 |
>Am I the only who thinks the challenges are getting more obscure?
Implied lines? Example is a line of trees...implied or man-made?
I think this is an important challange (and not abscure) as it starts to instigate thinking around the basic laws (Gestalt) that govern our perception of things around.
//psychlab1.hanover.edu/Classes/Sensation/Gestalt/index_files/v3_document.htm
//pages.slc.edu/~ebj/SM_98/notes/gestalt.html
I think it makes sense to understand these as we grow as photographers. They lay the basics of composition and perceptual psychology. This challenge is the first step towards this understanding... |
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10/22/2004 04:21:33 AM · #22 |
well seeing as the challenge subject deciders are getting the beats for strange topics, i'd better say my opinion and think they are great... nice and challenging.
implied does NOT have anything to do with man-made or not.. it has to do with something existing or not. three dots in a row, make an implied line.. one can easily imagine a line there... or an image of a circle with all except a tiny bit missing... we imagine the line there... it is implied.... or even someone staring at a cup of coffee... we 'see' the line between the eyes and the coffee.....
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10/22/2004 05:40:33 AM · #23 |
For what it is worth. Strange or challenging , they are to make you think,is poverty something physical, or can you convey the feeling , a thought, or a statement into an image that will make someone think, agree or be challenged with
There are so manyways to treat these subjects other than the obvious.
my 2c worth.
Message edited by author 2004-10-22 05:42:16. |
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10/22/2004 10:20:09 AM · #24 |
I feel you are not looking beyond the word, "poverty", and what all it entails. I agree with one of the other poster's about the synonyms, which also includes "want". Sometimes we need to have a open mind and think beyond self. Someone at one time told me... "Is your glass half empty or is your glass half full", meaning, you can look at yourself as poor, or you could count your blessings. I have to admit I have been blessed with many things, but not necessarily rich. When we think of some the great photographers in the world, and some of the risks they take, to get that one great picture... a drive over to our local slum or ghetto is nothing compared to some of the risks these photographers have taken. Photography as my daughter and I discussed this morning, can mean realism. I know from working on positive thoughts, it is often easy to get into a mode where we look for things that make our life easier and better. But life is not always about pretty, sometimes when we wake up to smell the roses, we also need to lookout for the thorns. So while thinking on this project last night, I thought it is too easy to drive over to my local slums/ghetto... it can also be an empty fridge, a child crying reaching up to their mother wanting something, a deprived of water landscape or plant. Sorry will get off my soapbox now... I didn't feel this was strange or obscure, just need to be not be so narrow minded.
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10/22/2004 10:57:09 AM · #25 |
Originally posted by heida:
Well I think thoose challenges are difficault
I dont fully understand what either of them mean except poverty = homeless person
Keep it simple please! :D
At least not so difficault words |
I think what Heida means, is that not everybody on this site has English as their native language.
I also have some difficulty understanding challenges with all these beautifull chosen words.
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