Did you enter the London Street Photography Festival contest?

[hlockwood]

See http://londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/ for details. Submission deadline is long past, and finalists, not yet announced, have been chosen.

I was shocked, shocked to learn that my submissions didn't make the cut. :bang: What, indeed, is wrong with those Brits? 😀

Did anyone here submit images? There has to be an RFFer among the finalists, yes? Isn't "street" an important part of why we use an rf camera? And isn't this an international forum?

Harry

 

[hlockwood]

See http://londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/ for details. Submission deadline is long past, and finalists, not yet announced, have been chosen.

I was shocked, shocked to learn that my submissions didn't make the cut. :bang: What, indeed, is wrong with those Brits? 😀

Did anyone here submit images? There has to be an RFFer among the finalists, yes? Isn't "street" an important part of why we use an rf camera? And isn't this an international forum?

Harry

I find it hard to believe that not a single member of RFF entered this contest. Ah, I know: there must actually be several RFFers among the finalists, but none of them wants to jinx his chance of being the winner. 😉

I understand; I'll be patient and wait for the announcement on 1 July.

Harry

 

[hlockwood]

See http://londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/ for details. Submission deadline is long past, and finalists, not yet announced, have been chosen.

I was shocked, shocked to learn that my submissions didn't make the cut. :bang: What, indeed, is wrong with those Brits? 😀

Did anyone here submit images? There has to be an RFFer among the finalists, yes? Isn't "street" an important part of why we use an rf camera? And isn't this an international forum?

Harry

Well, the results are in. I'll refrain from comparing my submissions (no honorable mention 🙁) to the winner and runners up. I didn't see any names among them that I recognize from the RFF.

My conclusion is that the judges and I have a very different definition of good street photography. I have seen dozens of photos posted here that I've admired as excellent examples of "street". But, with a few exceptions, I thought most of the recognized final contest photos, while reasonably good, don't match up with what we routinely see posted in this forum.

While I don't intend to change my approach to street photography (I do what pleases me), I would like to get some feedback from members of this forum. What is your take on the winning images?

At the URL posted above, look for the winners of the international (not student) contest.

Harry

 

[benlees]

I think member Simonsawsunlight got through?

 

[jesse1dog]

Agreed - very disappointing in my opinion - but then, what do I know about anything!

jesse

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

yes, I am one of the 'finalists'. I thought the other finalists' and winners' work was fantastic, and it makes me quite happy to have my pictures hanging next to these photographers.
jesse marlow's work is outstanding if you ask me, and from the one evening/night we did hang out together I can tell he's as good a person as he is a photographer.

of course, it is all subjective, and shouldn't stop you from shooting the way you like to shoot.

 

[SimonSawSunlight]

 

[daninjc]

Simon this is fantastic - what a satisfaction to cut to the final selection - absolutely deserved!
I browsed through the finalists' galleries, and there are amazing works. In my opinion, Jen Olaf Lesthein, Philip Cheung, Jesse Marlow really stand out.
As an additional thought I found that each of the finalists has a very personal and well defined style recognizable throughout the series. I also felt that the finalists' works cover largely different aesthetics and approaches to 'street' photography (whatever that means), showing how variable and broad this genre really is.

yes, I am one of the 'finalists'. I thought the other finalists' and winners' work was fantastic, and it makes me quite happy to have my pictures hanging next to these photographers.
jesse marlow's work is outstanding if you ask me, and from the one evening/night we did hang out together I can tell he's as good a person as he is a photographer.

of course, it is all subjective, and shouldn't stop you from shooting the way you like to shoot.

 

[Steveh]

I nipped in to see the exhibition on the way home this evening - the finalists are to one side of a fairly large Vivian Maier exhbit. I did a double take when I saw Simon's pictures (well done Simon!) , which I've seen so often on here, among the finalists, but I thought they held up very well in that company, so RFF has been proudly represented.

I don't agree about the quality of the winners and finalists - I'm not wild about a couple of Jesse Marlow's pics but as Simon says I think he's very talented indeed. He does have a very graphic, colourful aesthetic which is not very "RFF" - certainly not Frank or Bresson but why would he be, in 2011? I really liked Pari Dukovic's shots as well.

What surprised me after all the hype was how little I was moved by the Vivian Maier stuff. Beautiful technical quality in some of the prints but they didn't do much for me, and some of the prints on display were really quite ordinary I thought.

 

[hlockwood]

I don't agree about the quality of the winners and finalists - I'm not wild about a couple of Jesse Marlow's pics but as Simon says I think he's very talented indeed. He does have a very graphic, colourful aesthetic which is not very "RFF" - certainly not Frank or Bresson but why would he be, in 2011? I really liked Pari Dukovic's shots as well.

Not to beat a dead horse, but...

My criticism of the results of the competition is not the quality of the images; excellent photography permeates the entire set of those chosen. For example, look at the photos submitted by finalist Alison McCawley. These are beautiful images emphasizing geometry and composition. I would have been very happy to have produced them. But are they "street" photos? I would think not. Alternatively, look at the submissions of finalist Pari Dukovic. In my opinion, these are true "street" photos. I might argue (weakly) against the extreme contrast he employs, but that would be a quibble. Again, I would have been very happy to have produced them.

Many of the images chosen by the judges lack the "up close and personal" element that I associate with street photography. So, I guess it all comes down to definitions, as I suggested in a previous post.

Harry