Page up - Page down

Aspects of Image Critique

A personal perspective

I KEEP six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.

Rudyard Kippling

A very valuable phrasing to remember the important questions; in this discussion the most important ones are the What, Why and the How.

A good reference on the background to to Kipling's poem is here

What are we covering?

Composition
Critiqing tips
On judges and judging
Why?

Firtly we'll review a definition of composition, and look at the elements involved within that; then moving on to what I've found to be central 'themes' to doing good critique. This will not include an depth discussion of all the theory of composition, or aesthics, or colour theory... there are many references for that.

As this is centred around a camera club, the subject of competitions and judging will come up.

One of the most important aspects that I feel is ignored - is they Why?.

Composition is the act of ..

.. how to choose what to include in viewfinder.
.. how to pick settings on the camera
.. how to adjust the images on your computer or in the darkroom
.. how to control the world before the camera

Composition, the act of chosing how to include elements to make an image. What to leave in and what to leave out. There are lots of definitions of the rules, and considerable body of opinion as to break the rules. A good introduction is https://photographylife.com/what-is-composition-in-photography

Rules to make the choices!

When a rule works it works - yippee; but it can be then be 'forumalic'. Breaking a rule it won't make the image; but it can be an 'edge'. But maybe you want forumalic, because you are making a statement?

"Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph is like consulting the laws of gravity before taking a walk."

Edward Weston

So after coming back from the walk and having managed to go somewhere, and tripped over a loose paving slab, gravity can explain what happened and why. But it is worth knowing the basics - i.e. you can't fly. So you can use the 'rules of composition' to help review the images, and use them as a framework by which to discuss the image. So rather than guidelines to use when putting the image together they can also be at their most powerful when determining "why an image works" and "why an image doesn't work" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Weston

Aspects that should be covered

Technical Aspects

Has the craft been mastered and used with effect?
Compositional rules

How are they working in this image?
Alternate approaches

What could have been tried instead
Emotional connection

is this making a connection to me

"Criticism, like rain, should be gentle enough to nourish a man's growth without destroying his roots."

Frank A. Clark

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Clark_(politician)

Big Hero Six

Eye
Edges
Everything counts

Ego
Emotion
Explore and Practice and Practise

"It may be a good thing to copy reality; but to invent reality is much better."

Giuseppe Verdi

Camera never lies; it merely presents it's own view of reality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Verdi

Why are you taking images?

Do you want to make a point?
Do you want to record history?
Do you want to communicate something?
Do you want to have fun?

"A work of art that did not begin in emotion is not art"

Paul Cezanne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_C%C3%A9zanne