Are you prepared to say you don't like someone's pictures?

Are you prepared to say you don't like someone's pictures?

  • Yes - I'll tell anyone what I think.

    Votes: 18 10.2%

  • I'll try to be constructive when I post but I will be honest.

    Votes: 109 61.9%

  • I don't believe in being negative.

    Votes: 20 11.4%

  • Why bother, it'll only bring personal attack.

    Votes: 29 16.5%
  • Total voters
    176
FrankS said:
Many times it's not what you say but how you say it, that may get your post deleted.
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I've never been negative at all here. I praised the images and just questioned someone's choice to add heavy noise as background to a website. Criticized that choice in a constructive manner. Ready to discuss it, and explaining why I didn't like it. Still it was deleted.
 
Critique is best done in person. Facial expressions and vocal cues can do a lot to soften the blows of a honest, constructive critique. All of that is lost online. 10 people can interpret the same post 10 different ways.

If I'm not in love with a picture on flickr or elsewhere, I just won't say anything. I think most people operate in the same way.
 
If a photo catches my eye, I'm happy to share my enthusiasm for it, though if I did it to every photo I liked, I'd have no time to shoot my own. Other than that I think uninvited criticism is rude. I joined RFF to share what I'm doing with rangefinders -- having used slr's most of my photo life and finding rangefinders great fun -- and to to see what experienced rangefinder users are doing, what they have to say about gear, etc. For me, my cameras are a way of seeing, a manner of connecting to the world around me. A brilliant composition and a beautiful print (I'm a good darkroom technician and am capable of the latter in a wet darkroom!) is always something nice to get, and keeps me going. But it's looking at the ordinary, unassuming stuff I'd pass by without looking without a camera on me that really is the precious core of photography for me. Product is nice, but it's not everything.
 
I am going to go against the grain here and say that a photo critique by strangers can be useful and takes guts to submit to. Still you need a decently strong ego to really ask for this and have the responses be useful. In light of that, I will offer honest criticism, if that is what is being asked for. There are some great photographers here and the medium, at its best, is about communication. I just took a look at an RFF member's work in a "Please critique my work," thread and the guy has some GREAT stuff there. It is just that it isn't uniformly excellent. Helping someone to get over their emotional attachment to a photograph that doesn't work IS helping them, if done right. And in this case it would mean explaining constructively what I think the failings are. God help me, I have enough street photos of the back 3/4 of people's heads in my own files to know that failing when I see it.
 
When people use terrible photos to prove a certain point and that also incorrectly, usually someone comes along and puts them back in their place.

Personally, I don't look at other people's photos and when I do and find myself not liking something, I try to find out why so I can avoid similar pitfalls.
 
If a person asks then there is more likely to be responses posted in the thread.

When I comment on a photograph I give my opinion and from my experience it could be different then others. My experience is that at times when someone critiques a photograph that I have posted and points out what they see as negative, then I can only thank them for taking the time to express how they see the photograph and offering their point of view.

If people want work critiqued then they should express that in the title line of the thread.

The method I enjoy, when available, is meeting with a group of photographers and sharing work that you would like to discuss. Face to face works better for me, I like the interaction and hear the voice of others in person over the anonymous opinion an online entity on the internet. Both have value, one just has to weigh the content and how the message is delivered.
 
Photo critiques are a funny thing and most of the time I avoid them like the plague. Personally, I have no need for them. Everything aesthetic in my work is intentional and I am always working towards what one is seeing. It is a deeply personal endeavor and I really don't care what others think of my work. This isn't supposed to come of as poorly as it sounds. I photograph in the way I do for very personal reasons and nobody, regardless of their status as a photographer, will change that. If I had no experience in the logic of design then perhaps this would change.

As per giving them... Again, something I avoid. Most of the folks who approach me for reviews are doing what they do for pure enjoyment. Thus the review is short... Are you enjoying the process? Then I see no reason to stop enjoying it. Have fun.

Who am I to critique anyone? I loathe the idea of 'putting someone in their place' and it is diametrically opposed to what photography is for me; meeting people and developing relationships with them.

I quit teaching the photography at the college level because it was a system of criticism and creating rules. Today I work very hard at challenging the rules that amateur/hobby/passionate photographers are bombarded with. It's a process of engaging the world around you and if that is what you seek, who cares what the photos look like?
 
emraphoto said:
Photo critiques are a funny thing and most of the time I avoid them like the plague. Personally, I have no need for them. Everything aesthetic in my work is intentional and I am always working towards what one is seeing. It is a deeply personal endeavor and I really don't care what others think of my work. This isn't supposed to come of as poorly as it sounds. I photograph in the way I do for very personal reasons and nobody, regardless of their status as a photographer, will change that. If I had no experience in the logic of design then perhaps this would change.

As per giving them... Again, something I avoid. Most of the folks who approach me for reviews are doing what they do for pure enjoyment. Thus the review is short... Are you enjoying the process? Then I see no reason to stop enjoying it. Have fun.

Who am I to critique anyone? I loathe the idea of 'putting someone in their place' and it is diametrically opposed to what photography is for me; meeting people and developing relationships with them.

I quit teaching the photography at the college level because it was a system of criticism and creating rules. Today I work very hard at challenging the rules that amateur/hobby/passionate photographers are bombarded with. It's a process of engaging the world around you and if that is what you seek, who cares what the photos look like?
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Surely it's a fair question to ask, "What is this critique for? Do you want an exhibition, publication, what? If I've already achieved what you want, and you haven't, maybe I can help."

From http://www.rogerandfrances.com/subscription/ps critique.html

The very worst portfolio we ever saw consisted of low-quality colour photocopies, several images to a sheet, with severe (and variable) colour casts. The photographer wanted our advice on how to get these published in a book. When we pointed out that the first thing she needed to do was to make the presentation a good deal more attractive, she airily said, "Oh, they can clean that up at the printing stage." Possibly; possibly not. There was no evidence in her presentation that the quality ever could be anything other than abysmal, and besides, why would anyone bother to clean up rubbish?

Obviously we didn't phrase it like that to her face. We merely said that publishers are much influenced by the quality of what the would-be author puts in front of them, and that in our reasonably considerable experience, they would be unlikely to take such a proposal seriously because she had presented no evidence that the pictures could be 'cleaned up'.

Cheers,

R.
 
I do offer my opinion if someone asks for it and some pics are so interesting, that I do want to invest a few minutes of my time for input.
This current thread seems to be going well w/o much negativity.

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=123438

In general if pictures are just bland, don't tell me anything, I won't bother to post any comments, why would I waste my time with negative comments? I just go on in search for the positive 😉.

I think asking for critique opens up your mind how others, who ususally have no background information other than the title perhaps, perceive your picture, what strikes them. If they "get the message" or if they focus on grain or sharpness that might be completly irrellevant to you for that specific shot.
 
Interesting answers. Just to throw something in that hasn't been considered: If only positive responses are posted, and negative ones withheld, could that persuade naive readers that particular styles are "good", when the majority of viewers hold a different opinion?
 
No, don't really like to tell people I don't like their images, I guess I would rather let them figure it out. That may sound a little unhelpful, but my opinion is people are either ready to receive advice or not. If they ask for critique fair enough, but would never simply say I don't like it, but rather give them specific feedback.
 
Sejanus.Aelianus said:
Interesting answers. Just to throw something in that hasn't been considered: If only positive responses are posted, and negative ones withheld, could that persuade naive readers that particular styles are "good", when the majority of viewers hold a different opinion?
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What started the firestorm of debate on this topic (in another forum) was NOT people being critical of posted photos. It was that some moderators and some forum members felt people were not being critical enough and that only positive, supportive remarks were being posted on pictures. That was why the thread was labeled "Honest Critique", because a gang of people (some very important members) were unhappy with some people being relentlessly positive about photos (always looking for the best in a photo).

The tragedy was that we shredded each other, NOT over the pictures, but over our opinions and comments about the pictures and the intolerance we had for other people's opinions.

Like I said . . . in the end, I left the playground.

If you really want my opinion about a photo, send me a PM 😀
 
Murchu said:
No, don't really like to tell people I don't like their images, I guess I would rather let them figure it out. That may sound a little unhelpful, but my opinion is people are either ready to receive advice or not. If they ask for critique fair enough, but would never simply say I don't like it, but rather give them specific feedback.
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Will add to my above opinion, that I do not personally value external critiques much. Such critiques are only as valuable as the skill and insight of the one giving it, and if I'm not going to learn from the best, I'd rather learn myself. Advancing my skills of self-editing is something I value highly, and would rather spend time poring over my images, than fielding critique of unknown quality.
 
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