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01/11/2006 10:43:02 AM · #1 |
I don't usually complain about challenge results, but I had to at least get this off my chest. How can so many of the photos in the City Life II challenge that have nothing to do with city life have scored so well? There are a good deal of photos of bridges or buildings or skylines that, in my opinion, don't meet the challenge in any way. If the challenge were titled "City", they would be fine, but the fact that "Life" was included in the title should have changed the focus of the challenge, shouldn't it? Why don't voters vote down entries that don't meet the challenge, even if they are nice photos? I have no complaints about my score, I think sub-6 is about right for what I submitted.
However, I had another photo I also took during the challenge that I never even considered submitting until the challenge was over, because it has nothing to do with City Life. But I think it is clear now that this would have scored better based on how things panned out in this challenge.
Ok, rant is over. But am I crazy, did anyone else think that many entries that did very well had nothing to do with City Life?
nick |
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01/11/2006 10:56:53 AM · #2 |
I couldn't agree with you more...I'm not only scratching my head over what was entered as representations of City Life...but also at what made it to the the top 30. I'm stunned...
No complaint about my images score but it's placement I suppose could have been higher by comparison.
I gave you a 6 because your image was brutally noisy(no offense) but I was over the moon that it was a real, actual, bonafide "city life" image. I even did a little dance when it appeared on my screen.
Last time I checked, I was living on the planet Earth but now I'm not too sure...
BTW a Special Congrats from me to JPR, who whooped my butt with this
...the same exact dude as I entered. How's that for a coincidence?
Message edited by author 2006-01-11 11:06:10. |
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01/11/2006 11:08:03 AM · #3 |
wow, incredible coincidence.
my image had grain added for a gritty feel, but I can appreciate that I overdid it for some people.
glad that the first response to this thread was not "stop crying cause you didn't win the challenge"
nick |
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01/11/2006 11:10:09 AM · #4 |
Originally posted by ngremour:
glad that the first response to this thread was not "stop crying cause you didn't win the challenge"
nick |
OK...lets make it the second response
"stop crying cause you didn't win the challenge"
Message edited by author 2006-01-11 11:10:43. |
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01/11/2006 11:13:18 AM · #5 |
| My interpretation of the challenge was that 'City Life' was meant to depict something you would experience in the city. This could be traffic, skyscrapers, a city skyline, or people. Just my two cents. Looking back to the Country Life challenge, many of the photographs did not depict people (or animals) which in my view was appropriate. A view of a windmill or barn can signify country life, so why can't a picture of a city skyline or bridge signify city life? |
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01/11/2006 11:17:22 AM · #6 |
I guess you can interpret it that way, everyone sees things differently. I just saw "life" as the subject and "city" as the modifier, or life in the city, restated. Like I said, it never even occurrd to me to submit the skyline pic, I thought it would get pounded with comments of "doesn't meet challenge". from now on I'm going to submit my best photo, even if it is a very loose interpretation of the challenge.
nick |
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01/11/2006 11:19:32 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by md8speed:
My interpretation of the challenge was that 'City Life' was meant to depict something you would experience in the city. This could be traffic, skyscrapers, a city skyline, or people. Just my two cents. Looking back to the Country Life challenge, many of the photographs did not depict people (or animals) which in my view was appropriate. A view of a windmill or barn can signify country life, so why can't a picture of a city skyline or bridge signify city life? |
very well put! i agree that buildings represent city life... however... it seems like i saw soooooo many of the same type of skyline nightshots! I was looking for something truly unique, because that is what "city life" represents to me...there's a lot of uniqueness to every city. It'd be as if there were 25 of the same type of windmill shots in the country challenge.
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01/11/2006 11:20:07 AM · #8 |
Ah yes yet another thread where someone is complaining.
Originally posted by ngremour:
How can so many of the photos in the City Life II challenge that have nothing to do with city life have scored so well? |
How things score is based on how people vote and if they like it. Despite what you may think it is not based on YOUR opinion.
Originally posted by ngremour:
There are a good deal of photos of bridges or buildings or skylines that, in my opinion, don't meet the challenge in any way. |
This is your opinion and obviously not the view of the masses. Just because you don't see something or understand something doesn't make it wrong (or in this case DNMC). I think people need to stop being so anal about the challenge descriptions. |
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01/11/2006 11:21:22 AM · #9 |
Originally posted by md8speed:
My interpretation of the challenge was that 'City Life' was meant to depict something you would experience in the city. This could be traffic, skyscrapers, a city skyline, or people. Just my two cents. Looking back to the Country Life challenge, many of the photographs did not depict people (or animals) which in my view was appropriate. A view of a windmill or barn can signify country life, so why can't a picture of a city skyline or bridge signify city life? |
I interpreted "City Life" the same way for my entry.
Something you would see in the city:
Message edited by author 2006-01-11 11:22:44. |
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01/11/2006 11:24:10 AM · #10 |
| Speaking of challenge descriptions, did you notice there aren't any for the new open challenges? |
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01/11/2006 11:25:54 AM · #11 |
what a genius. I admitted that I am just trying to figure out why it was interpreted that way by the voters. I can see that I interpreted it differently, and was wrong. the voters have the power and the final say. I am just opening discussion so that those of us who thought differently than the masses can learn from it and do better next time. ever heard of constructive discussion?
nick
Message edited by author 2006-01-11 11:28:09. |
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01/11/2006 11:31:00 AM · #12 |
I can't complain about my score because I knew entering I was doing something people wouldn't like..that is having a city pole right in the middle of my shot...my wife pointed it out and I simply responded I like it..
it was a choice not to crop tighter..I even have a shot like that..the pole represents the discordance of city life, nothing is neat and perfect, the fact that Silver Elvis blends in to the the scene to the point where you almost miss him also says something about city life..in the city unusual characters are everywhere, they are largely ignored, they tend to blend into the background..it is only if you stopped to look closely that you would even notice them...
I don't expect people to think through these things, and certainly don't expect people flashing by on a thumbnail to see this stuff when voting..but for me a challenge gives me an opportunity to consider a number of possibilities, and for some reason this time I felt like explaining myself. |
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01/11/2006 11:31:03 AM · #13 |
Originally posted by ngremour:
what a genius. I admitted that I am just trying to figure out why it was interpreted that way by the voters. I can see that I interpreted it differently, and was wrong. the voters have the power and the final say. I am just opening discussion so that those of us who thought differently than the masses can learn from it and do better next time. ever heard of constructive discussion?
nick |
But just because YOU interpreted it one way does not make it wrong. Thats the beauty of it. You can't beat yourself up because you think differently about something. If you don't think it fits the challenge then you could be right but just try and think that there is always more then one meaning/opinion of a challenge topic. |
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01/11/2006 11:32:34 AM · #14 |
Originally posted by shannylee13:
Originally posted by md8speed:
My interpretation of the challenge was that 'City Life' was meant to depict something you would experience in the city. This could be traffic, skyscrapers, a city skyline, or people. Just my two cents. Looking back to the Country Life challenge, many of the photographs did not depict people (or animals) which in my view was appropriate. A view of a windmill or barn can signify country life, so why can't a picture of a city skyline or bridge signify city life? |
very well put! i agree that buildings represent city life... however... it seems like i saw soooooo many of the same type of skyline nightshots! I was looking for something truly unique, because that is what "city life" represents to me...there's a lot of uniqueness to every city. It'd be as if there were 25 of the same type of windmill shots in the country challenge. |
ShannyLee - I just have to ask... you said you were looking for the uniqueness that every city has, I entered a picture of the Mummer's parade, which is unique to Philadelphia, and yet you left me a comment that it didn't quite fit your feel for city life. Why didn't it? Just curious since I feel everyone is entitled to their opinion. (BTW - I wouldn't have asked if you hadn't just written this.) |
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01/11/2006 11:33:27 AM · #15 |
yes, I definitely do appreciate that people may see it differently than I do and will better take that into condieration next time. ultimately, the voters decide what is RIGHT, and that's the way it should be.
nick |
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01/11/2006 11:36:20 AM · #16 |
This is from my edit to add on my City Life, since it probably falls under the DNMC group to some people.
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I feel the need to explain a few things, and this may come across as a semi-rant, so feel free to ignore! I stated it earlier in a thread, but got yelled at, so I deleted it, and now, here is my explanation.
1) The word ‘life’ to me does not mean there has to be a living organism in the picture if the challenge is City Life. How often do we talk about inanimate things, such as a picture, being either ‘dead’ or ‘full of life’? Quite often, and thus I think of life as being more akin to energy. If it (being living or inanimate) has energy, than it can be considered to have life
2) Two images popped into my head the moment I read this challenge. The first was the Grand Central Station scene in the movie Koyaanisqatsi. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it. It’s basically a time lapse scene, which creates a sense of immediacy, life and craziness by the amount of people moving in and through Grand Central Station in New York. The second thing that popped in my head was a traffic jam
Why traffic jam? In North America, in a major city, it is virtually impossible to get from point A to point B if they are relatively far away from each other. What do people use? The freeway or the highway. Going on with my metaphors, freeways are to me the arteries of a city. Without them, cities would languish, except for the heart of the urban core. That’s another rant for another time (urbanization, sprawl etc.). What I’m trying to do is get people to understand why I took a picture of a highway.
I was going to take a picture of rush hour, but thought that would be to boring a picture, and thus, this is why there is a time lapse shot of a highway. I consider a highway to be an essential part of city life, especially in North American cities where millions of people take the highway to simply survive in the city.
If you still don’t think this is city life, then, I guess we’ll just agree to disagree.
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One more thing, I also said, and then deleted because I was yelled at, things can be looked at on different scale. A large picture of a city 'can' be looked at as city life on a macro scale.
Cheers! |
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01/11/2006 11:47:08 AM · #17 |
I'll politely dissagree but I believe anything that happens in a city can perfectly meet the Challenge but would that thing be a strong "representation" of city life?
I wanted to see things that were particular to city life and NOT things that could be seen at the beach or the country...on a highway...etc. I wanted to see the life or the heartbeat of the city...
Not to pick on the second place entry because it's a really well taken photo but I thought it was taken in a very small town (kidding) unless people only cross the streets in cities??? If you took a picture of someone eating Sushi in Chicago...would you meet the Challenge ...yes...but that's not a particular representation of city life.
While many small towns usually do not have newsstands (JPR's image)...now, that is a vista that's quite particular to a city and only a city (with some exceptions...I assume) Perfect...strong representation of something that you will only see in city.
The first place image reeks of city life even though theres no actual life in the image but lifes marks, footprints and smells are all over the place...another top knotch entry IMHO. That was not a simple cityscape but a hard hitiing image.
One more thing...there is a difference between a Cityscape and City Life.
Message edited by author 2006-01-11 11:55:51. |
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01/11/2006 12:02:50 PM · #18 |
| Like I said, we'll agree to disagree :D |
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01/11/2006 12:07:57 PM · #19 |
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01/11/2006 12:10:42 PM · #20 |
this was my fav in the challenge..
it made me stop and think...I think it is brilliant..
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01/11/2006 12:17:05 PM · #21 |
| Just adding my two cents. I didn't realize that my picture of a bridge at night didn't qualify as "city life." My thinking was you don't see a freaking bridge like that in the forest do you? It's something you see in a CITY. I was really upset when someone said in a forum that if they didn't see "life" in the picture they were giving it a 1 automatically. Come on. Sure enough I received a 1 and some 2, etc. It bothers me that someone would rate a good photo that MARGINALLY meets the challange with a 1. Could the people handing out 1's and 2's on sheer principle not see what I might have been thinking and give me the benefit of the doubt? Maybe that would warrent a 5 for a really good picture with the comment, would have rated higher if I felt there was life. But a 1???? That's rediculous. I see a lot of people on here doing that...givng out 1's if they don't feel it meets the challenge even if they CAN see how the photographer thought it meets the challenge. I know this is an old an tired argument and to be honest I'm MORE than happy with my overall score and it's the highest rated picture I have (placing 11th) but to hear all these people complaining that I made the top 20 or top 30 with that picture sort of stings. It's a good photo and does depict my view of city life. How did I rob anyone by making the top 20? |
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01/11/2006 12:17:55 PM · #22 |
Originally posted by bucket:
this was my fav in the challenge..
it made me stop and think...I think it is brilliant.. |
yes!! a great portrayal of city life!! totally gets you thinkin! well done~
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01/11/2006 12:18:18 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by ngremour:
I don't usually complain about challenge results, but I had to at least get this off my chest. How can so many of the photos in the City Life II challenge that have nothing to do with city life have scored so well? There are a good deal of photos of bridges or buildings or skylines that, in my opinion, don't meet the challenge in any way. If the challenge were titled "City", they would be fine, but the fact that "Life" was included in the title should have changed the focus of the challenge, shouldn't it? Why don't voters vote down entries that don't meet the challenge, even if they are nice photos? I have no complaints about my score, I think sub-6 is about right for what I submitted.
However, I had another photo I also took during the challenge that I never even considered submitting until the challenge was over, because it has nothing to do with City Life. But I think it is clear now that this would have scored better based on how things panned out in this challenge.
Ok, rant is over. But am I crazy, did anyone else think that many entries that did very well had nothing to do with City Life?
nick |
Not that it matters, but I'm one of your eight 10s. I thought your shot nailed the challenge, much more than those that were just skylines and such. City life... Commuting on a train. Nice pic. |
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01/11/2006 12:56:54 PM · #24 |
well thank you everyone to contributing to the thread. I believe I have a better understanding now of how different people saw the challenge and why things placed the way the did. I guess we will all need to have sort of an "open mind" when voting and submitting. Like all art, others may see things that you don't and vice versa.
nick |
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01/11/2006 05:19:35 PM · #25 |
I felt the same way you did about the challenge, that the "life" was important. In particular, I was looking forward to this challenge because candids are my favorite type of photography. I mean, if you can't find an interesting person to photograph in a city you aren't going to find one anywhere. :)
I gave your photo an 8 and thought it met the challenge very well and I thought the increased noise added to the effect of the photo. It also reminded me of this photo I took in DC a while back (except I went a totally different direction with the processing):
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