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DPChallenge Forums >> Current Challenge >> artsy pictures
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 07/05/2004 11:35:38 PM · #1
blindjustice gives poor advice beyond simple contests

Message edited by author 2004-07-05 23:36:09.
 07/05/2004 11:34:11 PM · #2
do so while keeping your own ideas in the fore front...
there is more to quality than dpc
 07/05/2004 10:55:01 PM · #3
I've just posted my first challenge, and I can see I made a big mistake in putting what I thought was a fairly "artsy" pic. After spending more time on the site, I'm seeing that the tendency is certainly toward technical quality being rate very high. That's great, now I know.

Artistic quality is perhaps more subjective also, I'll be sure to focus on the technical for my next effort.
 07/05/2004 10:39:14 PM · #4
6.3

5.3

6.7

Random abstract stuff without a huge, dominating subject can do okay...
 07/05/2004 09:59:41 PM · #5
[aside] If all you are concerned with is scoring high in the challenges, you must not paint with your camera. The voting public is very fickle and rewards the large 1/2 to 1/3 of the entire viewing area subject. Do not attempt to use your camera and see paintings- it will not work. no impressionist photography. Realism please, ma'am.
but what do I know.
 07/05/2004 09:46:45 PM · #6
Originally posted by undieyatch:
"The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel." Piet Mondrian
..................................................
I am hard pressed to discover work by anyone that is accalimed and renowned which is not based on diligent attention and dedication to practice of the craft regardless of the craft or who is intended as an audience.


Yes, yes, yes! - humility in light of that which is larger than us, i.e. nature, including our own.

"...man is himself an object, whatever he may take to be his advantages, the more likely to recognize himself as such the greater his advantages, particularly at the moment that he achieves an humilitas sufficient to make him of use." Charles Olson
 07/05/2004 08:42:37 PM · #7
humble is a healthy way to be.

07/05/2004 07:04:03 PM · #8
"The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel." Piet Mondrian
..................................................
I am hard pressed to discover work by anyone that is accalimed and renowned which is not based on diligent attention and dedication to practice of the craft regardless of the craft or who is intended as an audience.
 07/05/2004 05:58:16 PM · #9
i think that the fact 'artists' are renowned for their art may deafen the reality that they are expressing themselves - or at the point they aren't expressing themselves, and just producing work for 'the masses', they have become non-artists.

Originally posted by zeuszen:
1] Especially true for poetry.

[2] While art as a form of self-expression exists, many artists see themselves as a kind of vessel, leaving no or precious little 'self' in the equation.

07/05/2004 04:27:38 PM · #10
Originally posted by awpollard:
Originally posted by zeuszen:
...

[2] While art as a form of self-expression exists, many artists see themselves as a kind of vessel, leaving no or precious little 'self' in the equation.


Don't they call that journalism?


What I was thinking of has absolutely nothing to do with journalism.
 07/05/2004 04:20:51 PM · #11
Originally posted by zeuszen:
...

[2] While art as a form of self-expression exists, many artists see themselves as a kind of vessel, leaving no or precious little 'self' in the equation.


Don't they call that journalism?
 07/05/2004 03:53:54 PM · #12
Originally posted by soup:
[1]...or art is just a form of expression that steps beyond words...

[2]...art is a way for the artist to express how they feel


[1] Especially true for poetry.

[2] While art as a form of self-expression exists, many artists see themselves as a kind of vessel, leaving no or precious little 'self' in the equation.

Message edited by author 2004-07-05 15:55:08.
 07/05/2004 03:53:41 PM · #13
Originally posted by Gordon:
The big issue is that while a lot of what is considered good (particularly modern) art, might well be superficially considered crap and certainly breaks all well established styles and conventions, the opposite does not immediately follow. Often, I think people get confused and assume, just because their picture looks superficially crappy, that it doesn't automatically become good art.

I submit a lot of what's intended to be "arty" type photos here ... some of which are misunderstood and get crappy votes, and some of which are just crappy ...

Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap.*

*Original pejorative term as reported may have been "crud" -- the original interview no doubt substituted the euphemism of the day (late 1940's I believe) for Mr. Sturgeon's actual language.
 07/05/2004 03:13:22 PM · #14
The big issue is that while a lot of what is considered good (particularly modern) art, might well be superficially considered crap and certainly breaks all well established styles and conventions, the opposite does not immediately follow. Often, I think people get confused and assume, just because their picture looks superficially crappy, that it doesn't automatically become good art.
 07/05/2004 03:08:00 PM · #15
I'm the opposite. Every picture I submit here I do so thinking it will place highly. In a lot of cases, I've been proven badly wrong, and I've learned. In those cases, it hasn't been the fault of the "DPC masses", but rather my fault. I knew what the parameters were, and misjudged my photos applicability.

I find that my local photo club is a far better place to try and "push the boundaries".
 07/05/2004 02:58:38 PM · #16
i would assume please the few - and know they see/saw what i saw - than worry about pleasing everyone - in general - although for entries here i tend about 75% to try to please the masses. art in any form IMO does not aim at pleasing the masses - but more the few that can see what you meant. or art is just a form of expression that steps beyond words.

and it's a given not everyone or anyone for that matter will understand/ enjoy it.

art is a way for the artist to express how they feel - and it's a bonus if some one actually praises you.


07/05/2004 02:36:43 PM · #17
Right. But my point was simply that people will put things on here that aren't "eye candy" or whatever, and complain about the bad scores. That's the "failure" I was talking about.

This site is a fantastic way to learn how to make really, really appealing pictures. To get upset when the site members behave exactly as they always have is counter productive.

Now, as you said, I could submit something that I knew would do no good here, and I might "open some eyes" or whatever. (That's assuming it wasn't actually a piece of junk, which is at least as likely as the alternative!) However, if I then go and complain that it only got a 4.5 and that folks just "didn't get it", I'm doing the site a disservice.

Originally posted by zeuszen:

It would depend on the work, its immeasurable effect and influence and, at least, someone's definition of 'failure'.

A picture or work can be very unpopular and, yet, achieve transport.
07/05/2004 02:12:33 PM · #18
Originally posted by welcher:
... I refuse to submit shots that are "edgy" or whatever, and then complain about the bourgeois who only vote for the eye candy shots...


That's what I've learned in the Extraordinary challenge. I submitted a photo that I'd consider "arty". It's a portrait with very strong emotional expression... but on a really negative matter. Those who like the photo seem to love it, but the rest hates it. So in the average, it's being totally trashed.

I still like the photo though, I've just learned DPC isn't about (my definition of) art, it's about capturing, as welcher wrote, what people like to see.
 07/05/2004 02:06:40 PM · #19
Originally posted by welcher:
...That would be like complaining that concert-goers at a rock show weren't inclined to watch a ballet instead. Nothing is wrong with ballet OR rock, just that delivering one to a group that expects another is just asking for failure...


It would depend on the work, its immeasurable effect and influence and, at least, someone's definition of 'failure'.

A picture or work can be very unpopular and, yet, achieve transport.
 07/05/2004 11:58:04 AM · #20
Originally posted by welcher:
That would be like complaining that concert-goers at a rock show weren't inclined to watch a ballet instead. Nothing is wrong with ballet OR rock, just that delivering one to a group that expects another is just asking for failure.

You mean a bit like an opera performance at Glastonbury? ; )
If nobody pushes the boundaries then the boundaries will never move.

Oh, and I like your shot too : )
 07/05/2004 11:33:27 AM · #21
I didn't mean to imply that I didn't like my shot.

Basically, I only submit to DPC shots that I think will do well here. I refuse to submit shots that are "edgy" or whatever, and then complain about the bourgeois who only vote for the eye candy shots. That would be like complaining that concert-goers at a rock show weren't inclined to watch a ballet instead. Nothing is wrong with ballet OR rock, just that delivering one to a group that expects another is just asking for failure.

I submitted this thinking it would do pretty well, and appreciated the comments that told me why it didn't. I still like the shot a lot, and now I've learned a bit more about how to take a particular kind of picture and reach (or not reach) a particular kind of audience.

Oh, and thanks for the comments in this thread on my photo. It's gratifying to see that some folks like it, and responded to my blatant praise fishing! ;)

Message edited by author 2004-07-05 11:34:15.
 07/05/2004 11:31:46 AM · #22
Here's another thread some months back that discussed this very subject, if you're interested in more reading (not that long).
 07/05/2004 11:28:54 AM · #23
i think the artsy crowd should start marking their (our) photos with some obscure dark blur in the lower left corner :) - start our own faction within the dilettantes of the DPC.

OOOH! smell that? smells like defection...

eh, its still fun

Message edited by author 2004-07-05 11:29:33.
 07/05/2004 11:27:41 AM · #24
Originally posted by welcher:
One person's "artsy" is another person's plain bad photo. I think a lot of folks on here like to "break the rules" and call it art, but it comes across as just a plain bad picture.

HOWEVER, submit it anyway. I submitted this:



thinking it was pretty darn special, and "artsy". A lot of comments I got really clarified my thinking on it, and made me realize and see for the first time the weaknesses of the shot (primarily the fact that there's nowhere for the eye to rest).


I don't think a photo has to have a main subject and a place where your eye is drawn. If an artist's intent is to express unrest, tension, movement, etc, and it works with the other elements in the image to portray an intended meaning, then I would say it's a good use of this visual element. In this case, it was meant to portray a kind of light and atomosphere, and so works well.
 07/05/2004 11:23:37 AM · #25
Originally posted by soup:

and thanks the-O-ster
its a vermont cow ;}


i was actually referring not to the cow, but to the wire fence and how much of my youth (WI) was spent crossing these boundaries...i actually didn't see the cow until i read some more of the thread :)
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