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03/15/2010 11:05:42 AM · #1 |
| Well I'm going to preface this by saying that I am not a speed voter. I take my time and give each image a fair view. Having said that, I just finished voting on the Branch challenge, and I can't help but feel like I saw a few of the photos alittle differently. There were probably 5-10 images that I felt were valuable from an artistic standpoint that I may have passed over with a 5 before. So my question is, do you think that the Fine Arts challenge will change the way you vote in future challenges? I probably would have said no, but after voting through the branch challenge, I can't help but feel like it has... I'm just curious what some of the locals think... Will it affect your future voting? |
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03/15/2010 11:09:34 AM · #2 |
| I think I had already been appreciating a lot of the abstracts and weird stuff, so I expect my voting to stay about the same. |
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03/15/2010 11:11:20 AM · #3 |
Personally, I had hoped the Fine Arts challenge would lead more voters towards the ideal of pondering before dismissing :-) I'm encouraged by what you just posted...
R. |
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03/15/2010 11:12:11 AM · #4 |
The camera movement challenge open my eyes, so I already give the out-of-the-ordinary a second look. But it's fun having the challenges that expand your horizons, isn't it?
Message edited by author 2010-03-15 11:12:23.
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03/15/2010 11:19:48 AM · #5 |
I learned quite a bit by observing and discussing the fine arts challenge as well as from some detailed insight provided by  pawdrix. What I have gathered in the process surely affects my judgement on images that are blurry, out of focus, grainy, and generally out of the box. From now on I will be questioning how much of what I thought were poor characteristics were actually intentional artistic expression.
I will definitely be looking at entries in other challenges with much more of an open mind and I sort of feel bad that, in the past, I may have judged some images a little harshly. |
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03/15/2010 11:45:27 AM · #6 |
Originally posted by yakatme:
What I have gathered in the process surely affects my judgement on images that are blurry, out of focus, grainy, and generally out of the box. |
I think overall if more people would look at photos that way we would see some more really nice artistic photos. I was looking at some Photoshop tip CD,s that I am going to present at a local club meeting and there was a tip that added noise to a shot, the shot came out really nice but I kind of chuckled to myself and thought that will never fly on DPC. Kind of sad so many techniques that really add to a photo tend to get automatic thumbs down from a lot of voters based on the it has to be sharp and clean to be good atmosphere that generally prevails here. Good to see some people thinking outside the box! |
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03/15/2010 12:06:40 PM · #7 |
DPC does seem to be quite representative of a certain view of photography. It's my experience of local camera clubs as well (in the UK at least). Every one i have encountered seem to be made mostly of amateurs with a small handful of semi-pros and the focus is nearly always on the technicals. Blurry, noisy, , blown out, more 'artistic' images don't go down well at all and are seen as faults. What matters most is how sharp an image is, etc. I've never really lasted long at these places sadly. On the other hand, my experience of being at University studying Digital Art and Photography about 10 years ago was very much like the fine art challenge with more focus on interpretation and artistic merit. Many at my local camera club very much dismiss and look down on the photography at the local uni and colleges, thinking it not proper photography as the students are not taught enough of the tech stuff. What's nice about DPC is that although it is slightly skewed in one direction there is a mix and hopefully this challenge will help that.
Message edited by author 2010-03-15 12:07:43. |
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03/15/2010 12:17:13 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by clive_patric_nolan:
What's nice about DPC is that although it is slightly skewed in one direction there is a mix and hopefully this challenge will help that. |
I think it will for now, but we might need a reinforcing Fine Arts challenge from time to time to remind some of us. |
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03/15/2010 12:38:51 PM · #9 |
I have to say that my ability, and inclination, to give a good look to images has more been due to my continued immersion in photography as an out-of-the-box art form where anything goes as a member of Team Suck. That said, having the original OOB dead guy as our Fearless Leader, as well as having the august perception of such people as  Bear_Music,  Melethia, Hipychik, raish, and other I'm prolly deplorably forgetting, my eyes have been in a training program for about three years. Having the concentration of all the entries in a challenge at the same time merely made me realize that though I'm more likely to appreciate an artistic entry than I was when I got here, I still have much to learn. I would certainly hope that perhaps there might be spin-offs in Side Challenges for more specific parameters of fine art like abstract, impressionism, whatever.... |
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03/15/2010 01:42:59 PM · #10 |
I have always liked to run the ragged edge of technical acceptance in some of my photos. One of my fav side challenges was the first "Blur" SC back in Aug 07, before it became popular or accepted at all here at DPC.
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03/15/2010 02:54:49 PM · #11 |
I thought some of the best of the F.A. images were the ones (like the blue ribbon shot) that took things the furthest away from the DPC comfort zone. Surely, we could use more challenges that, well, challenge us to get outside that zone. The results are well worth it.
I really enjoyed voting this challenge, it was quite refreshing. |
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03/15/2010 03:09:13 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by kirbic:
I thought some of the best of the F.A. images were the ones (like the blue ribbon shot) that took things the furthest away from the DPC comfort zone. Surely, we could use more challenges that, well, challenge us to get outside that zone. The results are well worth it.
I really enjoyed voting this challenge, it was quite refreshing. |
That's interesting. Like the Blue I just noticed that only 3 in the Top 10 and maybe 6 in the Top 20 utilized elements that were out of the "DPC comfort zone" ...sharpness/clarity of subject being one thing or other conventions. With just under 200 votes it appears many people still clung to the norms.
I really like the Blue and glad it hit the mark and rose to the top of the pack, at the end of the day.
Message edited by author 2010-03-15 15:44:54. |
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03/15/2010 03:49:45 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by pawdrix:
the "DPC comfort zone" ...sharpness/clarity of subject being one thing or other conventions. With just under 200 votes I appears many people still clung to the norms. |
I have to agree. Though it was a total abstract image, my own entry was also a sharp, brightly colored lollipop. I honestly expected the abstract aspect of it to doom it's broad appeal. I'm not sure if it was OOTB, or "in the comfort zone". |
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03/15/2010 09:00:43 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by clive_patric_nolan:
DPC does seem to be quite representative of a certain view of photography. It's my experience of local camera clubs as well (in the UK at least). Every one i have encountered seem to be made mostly of amateurs with a small handful of semi-pros and the focus is nearly always on the technicals. Blurry, noisy, , blown out, more 'artistic' images don't go down well at all and are seen as faults. What matters most is how sharp an image is, etc. I've never really lasted long at these places sadly. On the other hand, my experience of being at University studying Digital Art and Photography about 10 years ago was very much like the fine art challenge with more focus on interpretation and artistic merit. Many at my local camera club very much dismiss and look down on the photography at the local uni and colleges, thinking it not proper photography as the students are not taught enough of the tech stuff. What's nice about DPC is that although it is slightly skewed in one direction there is a mix and hopefully this challenge will help that. |
Yes! A lot depends on the AUDIENCE. The camera club audience looks down on the uni stuff and the uni people look down on the camera club stuff. I'm more interested in the fine art (uni) approach. I have had critiques of my work say "looks like a good camera club shot" and "fine for a Hallmark card." Many DPC members would consider these comments to be praise, but they were both intended to be quite critical.
One of the nice things about the art world is that audiences can change. New works like Picasso and the other cubists can cause profound shifts in what the audience likes and appreciates. There is nothing here anything near as earth-shattering as cubism, but I join with clive_patric_nolan in hoping that this challenge will cause a shift in the DPC audience.
~~Dan
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03/15/2010 09:25:20 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by pawdrix:
That's interesting. Like the Blue I just noticed that only 3 in the Top 10 and maybe 6 in the Top 20 utilized elements that were out of the "DPC comfort zone" ...sharpness/clarity of subject being one thing or other conventions. With just under 200 votes it appears many people still clung to the norms.
I really like the Blue and glad it hit the mark and rose to the top of the pack, at the end of the day. |
A lot of people here seem to thing that "fine art" means blurry, noisy, and/or blown out images. My sense of the photographic works that are successful in the contemporary art scene is that most of them are technically excellent. Most of them are presenting large prints--measured in feet rather than inches--so that they will be noticed in a gallery full of big paintings and sculpture. Take Gregory Clewdson as an example (he was discussed in the thread about the fine art challenge). Clewdson shoots with an 8x10 view camera to get the resolution he needs and then scans the negatives to do all the post processing in digital. Clewdson is clearly one of the leading contemporary art photographers and there is nothing blurry or noisy about his work.
~~Dan
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03/15/2010 10:09:25 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by wheeledd:
... but I join with clive_patric_nolan in hoping that this challenge will cause a shift in the DPC audience.
~~Dan |
...and the question that begs to be asked is WHY? Shifting for the sake of shifting will produce nothing other than a transference of norms and preferences.
Individual tastes are exactly that... something that resonates within each of us and no amount of prodding will generate a social construct that will guarantee wholesale acceptance by the masses.
Did I enjoy the challenge you ask... I most certainly did as it pushed the boundaries one normally associates with DPC images. Did it instill a greater degree of awareness as to what constitutes fine art, not particularly since such definitions rest solely with the individuals and their personal "penchants" relative to art forms.
The avant-garde images pushing today's boundaries may well be the staid and mundane images of tomorrow.
Each and everyone is a critic in their own right...and justifiably so.
Ray
Message edited by author 2010-03-15 22:10:13. |
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