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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Definition of 'People'
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AuthorThread
 07/20/2006 03:46:33 AM · #1
Okay...I need some quick and definite answers here. As you know there are three main categories in any club/competition. Those being Nature, Landscape and People. My local photo club is trying to define the definition of people in the photographic category, so all the people that are trying to start out in photography have a guideline. I am shocked to see that this is their conclusion.

"I have been asked about how to define "people" and I got this from the web - Definitions of people on the Web:
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively; "old people"; "there were at least 200 people in the audience"
citizenry: the body of citizens of a state or country; "the Spanish people"
fill with people or supply with inhabitants; "people a room"; "The government wanted to populate the remote area of the country"
multitude: the common people generally; "separate the warriors from the mass"; "power to the people"
members of a family line; "his people have been farmers for generations"; "are your people still alive?"
furnish with people; "The plains are sparsely populated"
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
So I would think it would mean two or more human beings - does anyone have any objections to that definition - speak now for forever hold your peace?"

I really do not think this is appropriate, so I really need everyones help here in giving a correct definition so I can clear this up right now.

07/20/2006 03:53:14 AM · #2
If it is a category than one person can qualify for people...just a broad way of saying the focus should be a person or persons...not a thing and so forth

Clint


Message edited by author 2006-07-20 03:57:47.
 07/20/2006 03:54:01 AM · #3
to me, when someone said "people" it means someone they know, someone probably popular, or human with a story.

human and people are two different things.

Message edited by author 2006-07-20 03:54:54.
 07/20/2006 03:54:22 AM · #4
Soylent Green.
 07/20/2006 03:57:01 AM · #5
So that would leave your club with no acceptable category for a shot featuring only one person? Are they all quite sane?

e
 07/20/2006 04:08:20 AM · #6
People â It is one or manyâ¦the amount does not matterâ¦as long as at least one person is the focus of the image makes it fit into âPeopleâ

Clint
 07/20/2006 04:08:39 AM · #7
Exactly my point e301. I know the answer to this question...but it is pointless just giving my two cents. That is why I have come to you all to try and get some factual information to back up my definition of people being a major category within Photography that covers people in general. Whether it be portrait (chest up) or people in action, one or more people...it doesn't matter. As long as it is people.

I judged a photo competition today and this is what I based it on and I have seen many a judge base it on the same. But they obviously 'need' more than just my word. So help everyone before the hammer comes down on their theory.
 07/20/2006 04:57:14 AM · #8
Okay...does anybody know if there is a general guideline out there that most clubs follow. I am running out of time...but there has got to be some form of rulebook or something that clubs follow when they are setting these categories.

This club has had this category for many years...why they choose now to question it has got me.
 07/20/2006 07:01:47 AM · #9
Perhaps an addition to the common definitions that clarifies that people is a plural term and that a single individual is also an acceptable subject in this category.
 07/20/2006 07:55:59 AM · #10
Originally posted by faidoi:
Soylent Green.


Wicked. :>Ã
 07/20/2006 08:21:16 AM · #11
Whomever drafted that definition is quite daft. I cannot believe they are seriously considering a one-person photo not fitting a category named 'People'. Goodlordamighty :(

"A room is full of people"

"There are three people in the room." What does that mean by their limited definition?

"I'm going to talk to people."

Good lord I'm getting all worked up.

Here, from dictionary.com:
---
peo·ple
n. pl. people

1. Humans considered as a group or in indefinite numbers: People were dancing in the street. I met all sorts of people.

Usage Note:
As a term meaning âa body of persons sharing a culture,â people is a singular noun, as in As a people the Pueblo were noteworthy for their peacefulness. Its plural is peoples: the many and varied peoples of West Africa. But when used to mean âhumans,â people is plural and has no corresponding singular form. English is not unique in this respect; Spanish, Italian, Russian, and many other languages have a plural word meaning âpeopleâ that has no singular. Some grammarians have insisted that people is a collective noun that should not be used as a substitute for persons when referring to a specific number of individuals. By this thinking, it is correct to say Six persons were arrested, not Six people were arrested. But people has always been used in such contexts, and almost no one makes the distinction anymore. Persons is still preferred in legal contexts, however, as in Vehicles containing fewer than three persons may not use the left lane during rush hours. Only the singular person is used in compounds involving a specific numeral: a six-person car; a two-person show. But people is used in other compounds: people mover; people power. These examples are exceptions to the general rule that plural nouns cannot be used in such compounds; note that we do not say teethpaste or books-burning.
---

Time to get coffee before my head explodes.
 07/20/2006 08:25:29 AM · #12
Originally posted by alfresco:
Whomever drafted that definition is quite daft. I cannot believe they are seriously considering a one-person photo not fitting a category named 'People'. Goodlordamighty :(

"A room is full of people"

"There are three people in the room." What does that mean by their limited definition?

"I'm going to talk to people."

Good lord I'm getting all worked up.

Here, from dictionary.com:
---
peo·ple
n. pl. people

1. Humans considered as a group or in indefinite numbers: People were dancing in the street. I met all sorts of people.

Usage Note:
As a term meaning âa body of persons sharing a culture,â people is a singular noun, as in As a people the Pueblo were noteworthy for their peacefulness. Its plural is peoples: the many and varied peoples of West Africa. But when used to mean âhumans,â people is plural and has no corresponding singular form. English is not unique in this respect; Spanish, Italian, Russian, and many other languages have a plural word meaning âpeopleâ that has no singular. Some grammarians have insisted that people is a collective noun that should not be used as a substitute for persons when referring to a specific number of individuals. By this thinking, it is correct to say Six persons were arrested, not Six people were arrested. But people has always been used in such contexts, and almost no one makes the distinction anymore. Persons is still preferred in legal contexts, however, as in Vehicles containing fewer than three persons may not use the left lane during rush hours. Only the singular person is used in compounds involving a specific numeral: a six-person car; a two-person show. But people is used in other compounds: people mover; people power. These examples are exceptions to the general rule that plural nouns cannot be used in such compounds; note that we do not say teethpaste or books-burning.
---

Time to get coffee before my head explodes.


Thankyou JP. I will keep yours for further correspondence. I have sent an email out to everyone within the club about how I feel but also with quotes from other clubs on the subject and their sources.

Message edited by author 2006-08-01 07:16:45.
 07/20/2006 08:30:19 AM · #13
I think your best argument is the logical one that e301 first brought up - if their defintion of people doesn't include the singular, how is anyone going to enter a portrait of just one person?

There's got a to be a few people in that club that have children or grandchildren. Try pointing out them that this definition means they can't ever enter a shot of their little cutie pie and I'm sure you'll have more supporters.
 07/20/2006 08:33:18 AM · #14
Originally posted by L2:
I think your best argument is the logical one that e301 first brought up - if their defintion of people doesn't include the singular, how is anyone going to enter a portrait of just one person?

There's got a to be a few people in that club that have children or grandchildren. Try pointing out them that this definition means they can't ever enter a shot of their little cutie pie and I'm sure you'll have more supporters.

Thanks L2

Message edited by author 2006-08-01 07:17:27.
 07/20/2006 08:33:31 AM · #15
Isn't it just written as plural because lots of artists will submit photos, so in the category as a whole, there will be lots of people? I'd say submitting one person is fine.
 07/20/2006 08:34:32 AM · #16
Originally posted by Konador:
Isn't it just written as plural because lots of artists will submit photos, so in the category as a whole, there will be lots of people? I'd say submitting one person is fine.


Yes I agree...but it seems they are trying to rewrite the category as only accepting of two or more people. Which is why I am trying to get factual proof from either other contests or judging books on the subject.

Message edited by author 2006-07-20 08:35:06.
 07/20/2006 09:02:53 AM · #17
"People" is a collective noun for "person." A "person" is someone who requires a funeral upon dying. A "person" is someone you would never enslave, or allow to starve. A "person" is someone whose life means as much as your own. A "person" is someone you wouldn't dream of denying medical procedures to. A "person" uses the same entrances and exits that you do, drinks from the same fountains and sleeps on the same beds. A "person" is someone with certain inalienable rights, including the right to a fair trial. You would never dream of stopping a "person" from marrying another "person" if that is what they both wanted.

So, indeed, one of the most crucial exercises in human history has been the definition of "People."
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