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08/14/2003 09:28:17 AM · #1
I find those picture of dead rats and fish to be a great inspiration.
08/14/2003 09:50:06 AM · #2
i don't even vote on them, no matter what the challenge is, it isn't art...
08/14/2003 09:58:15 AM · #3
Originally posted by basia03:

i don't even vote on them, no matter what the challenge is, it isn't art...

Usually I don't like to put limits on creativity but, without any doubt, some of the subjects in the "Desolation" challenge left me with a lot of concerns....

I did not like them too.
08/14/2003 10:06:38 AM · #4
Originally posted by JimB:

I find those picture of dead rats and fish to be a great inspiration.

And it certainly makes for a very pleasant experience when somebody from DPCPrints! wanders over to look at other photos in a challenge, doesn't it?

I'm really surprised that the challenge themes here haven't been more geared to DPCPrints!-friendly topics (and by that I mean for the "mainstream" print buyer; I'm sure there are some people out there who might buy prints from the "Desolation" challenge to hang on their wall, but nobody I know...)
08/14/2003 10:26:36 AM · #5
Art isn't just about what's pretty. The topic is not 'flowers' or 'rainbows'.
Sometimes art makes us look at parts of life we're afraid of, or have resistance towards. If you have a strong reaction to a photo, I would say it's probably done it's job. When it leaves you cold or bored, THAT is bad art!
08/14/2003 10:28:46 AM · #6
I agree with Bobster, death is part of the process and even though we may not find it appealing we all have to experience it at some point. I also think that it fit very well this challenge.
08/14/2003 10:52:23 AM · #7
Actually there are several of the entries that I would hang on my wall if I weren't so self-obssessed as to have no room after hanging my own images.
08/14/2003 11:16:17 AM · #8
Art or not, I don't care to see a mother and her babies dead. I'm crying. I can't rate a photo that sad. I hope the person who took it at least gave a little back to that animal and buried her.

I'm not going to rate that challenge. I can't do it. Sorry.

Message edited by author 2003-08-14 11:16:57.
08/14/2003 11:27:15 AM · #9
Opposum babies in the pouch of the mother can survive impacts by cars. If you are reading this, please pass on the word that when you find an opposum hit on the side of the road, it is very important to check to see if there are babies. If there are, they can usually be saved.

I support a local wildlife rehabiliator in the area and she has shared this advice with me. If you don't know where a wildlife rehabilitator is in your area, call the local humane society and/or your local zoo keepers. They can direct you.

Please help those injured by man and give them a second chance. My heart is bleeding after seeing that photo!

Renee
08/14/2003 12:12:28 PM · #10
Originally posted by BobsterLobster:

If you have a strong reaction to a photo, I would say it's probably done it's job. When it leaves you cold or bored, THAT is bad art!


I do not think the point raised in this thread is about good or bad art.

We use our subjects. If we take a pic of a flower, we are using it.
The strongly standing point is:

Is there any limit to what we should use?

Once again, I do not like to limit creativity, but what disturbs me, in some cases, is not the strength of the photo but the fact that the photographer may have used the pain of another being to achieve his final result.

08/14/2003 12:16:29 PM · #11
Originally posted by JimB:

I find those picture of dead rats and fish to be a great inspiration.


Also, I do not find particularly fair to underline of photos currently involved in a challenge.
Are we gonna make the challenge a political affair with propaganda and all the rest?
08/14/2003 12:47:48 PM · #12
I agree with Bob - photography generates some strangely juxtaposed impulses - such as the eerily beautiful shots of the stricken World Trade Centre. Now there was a scene of dazzling sunshine, glistening steel and glass, sharply contrasted by the huge, richly detailed, billowing fireballs - those images just seemed so wrong, yet captivating with their composition and subconscious artistic appeal.

Personally, I prefer to confront images that worry me or make me feel unhappy. It's through that process I can determine a reaction to them in the 'real' world. If I see images of famine and poverty it performs a function to at least stimulate a donation, or if I see images of environmental damage it spurs me (still further) to change my habits - minimising, at least in my own small way the negative impact I may have on the planet.

If I were not subjected to these visual accounts - and others like them, I may drift through life with too clean a conscience, cocooned in an unjustly happy world. Sounds a bit heavy this, but I believe it's one of the ways to assess one's position in the greater scheme of things.

This site is predominantly fun (and there are humourous takes on this challenge too) but there needs to be light and shade in all things.
08/14/2003 02:22:13 PM · #13
Originally posted by Jon Lucas:

If I were not subjected to these visual accounts - and others like them, I may drift through life with too clean a conscience, cocooned in an unjustly happy world.


i don't need to see pictures of roadkill to actively participate in life and contribute in my own way...

like i said, i don't consider these kind of pictures art, not even "bad" art and choose to skip them in my voting, that's all... i don't even give them "ones", just skip them!

i just think that the poster(s) of these of images didn't respect my sensitivities enough for me to acknowledge these kind of entries by voting and commenting on them.
08/14/2003 02:28:15 PM · #14
Well said John, I completely agree with your well phrased words.

A true artist cares little for people's sensitivities; the reaction they are getting is probablly exactly what they want. Not to say that these are examples of good art or not. To me the difference comes with the intent. If a person is trying to capture a visual moment that demands a negative response from the viewer and forces them to think about the meaning of death, ok. If they have done something more and put their own spin on the subject that is a plus. If they are just posting photos of road kill to gross people out and get a chuckle, that is just disturbing but it is still their right to do so and in fact that would give their photo more meaning, in a nonautonomous way of course. Perhaps there will be some way to find out the intent after the challenge is over. It's always good to get to meet new and interesting people!
08/14/2003 02:50:01 PM · #15
What I find interesting is that one of the definitions of desolation is sadness. And there are people who are commenting that particular shots made them very sad, then saying they don't like them and won't rate them.

08/14/2003 03:05:10 PM · #16
Originally posted by ttreit:

What I find interesting is that one of the definitions of desolation is sadness. And there are people who are commenting that particular shots made them very sad, then saying they don't like them and won't rate them.

Well, in some cases that feeling may well be better defined as "disgust" than "sadness".
In which case it has very little to do with "desolation".
I think that the mentioned shot, in topic terms, would have been more appropriate if the topic was something like "Death" or "Pain", but definitely not "Desolation".
08/14/2003 03:30:11 PM · #17
Originally posted by JasonPR:

...it is still their right to do so...


but of course! and it is my right not want to look at them [roadkill pictures]
08/14/2003 03:32:54 PM · #18
I agree that with Glimpses post below or above (however you have your settings) 8/14/03 3:05:10 PM -- completely.

I guess I enjoy DPC because it is fun. I don't come here to get depressed. If these photos were a regular, I'd be gone. Life is depressing enough on its own if you have half a heart.

I'm a very passionate person. I just hope some good comes of that horrible scene. Maybe people will learn to seek out the babies of opposums in the future when they come upon them dead in the road. That would make this photo have some value...


Renee
08/14/2003 04:18:19 PM · #19
I guess everyone has there own opnion! Thats what I love about free speach! And you always learn what someone else has to say. (Please excuse my spelling and grammer) I have a really weak stomach, The pictures really choked me up a bit, but I voted on them and not that low. I bet when you look at past photos dealing with WAR and see dead people you wouldnt think twice (I saw first hand when I was in Iraq) not bragging or anything, it was a sad site and I would not wish it on my worst enemy to see somthing like that. I guess we are all just used to seeing dead animals on the side of the road. But I give props to those who got close enough to take those pictures. (IMO) A.I. Weaver
08/14/2003 04:28:05 PM · #20
Maybe one of the greatest results of the "roadkill" photos is that we are all discussing it. We are talking about art and how photos can illicit responses (responses that are beyond our control). We are thinking about the subject, thinking about our own stance in what we create, and talking about it. I think that it is great. The greatest photos are often not the most technically correct. They are the ones that can draw a strong emotion from the viewer without their permission.
08/14/2003 04:38:50 PM · #21
EMOTION!!!! That was the word I was looking for. Thanks potter
08/14/2003 04:54:45 PM · #22
I think that what may be going on here is a discussion of what visual arts are to the viewer vs. the artist and how both are effected by the image. As artist we try to capture a moment that moves us in hopes it will have the same/similar effect on the viewer. Why do photographers go to war-torn countries and record the carnage? Why do Photographers take numerous macros of flowers and bugs? sweeping panoramas of the Grand Canyon? candids of strangers on the street? The answer to all these questions is to convey the emotion felt at the moment of capture. If it makes one cry, laugh or compel one to take action then the photo has done it's job.

The fact that one of our members shot a photo that moved one so much as to not be able to vote is incredible to me. I hope to take such photographs regardless of the content.

Just my $0.02
-GeminiWB
08/14/2003 06:32:46 PM · #23
I think the value of a photo to elicit a response is only as good as the actions that come from it...

If something good should come of photographing a dead animal on the side of the road then good was accomplished.

My hope is that one person will stop when they hit or see a dead opposum and potentially save the babies. Then something has been accomplished.

Renee
08/14/2003 06:34:57 PM · #24
Originally posted by Resiemor:

My hope is that one person will stop when they hit or see a dead opposum and potentially save the babies. Then something has been accomplished

Exactly!
08/14/2003 06:39:59 PM · #25
I find a bit ridicolous to forbid full nude when there is a competition about nude and then make a display of the tragic death of some poor animal and her babies...

Sorry.. but I just do not see anything good in that.

Of course, it's just my opinion and I may well be wrong.
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