OP, sure get some comments if you like.
Myself? I've been shooting for 46 years. I am not interested that much in comments.
Whenever I post things online I try to turn off the comments if I can. I am not looking for comments or ego stroking. I am only looking to display my work...nothing else.
My work is in 91 museums and public collections. Some critics tell me having one's work in 91 public collections means nothing. But if the choice is to have my work on Flickr to please the critics or have it in 91 museums...the critics can keep their pix in Flickr and I'll keep my prints in the museums.
Here are some of the critiques I've got over the last couple of years on the net. A simple Google of my name will show some of my work.
"Your pictures are lifeless."
"Sad"
"I don't like color."
"I don't like BW."
"I don't like HDR."
"I don't like selective color."
"I don't like diffusion."
"I don't like Hyper-Real HDR, it is too cartoonish."
"Your photos are too contrasty."
"Your photos are too grainy."
"Why don't you take pictures of something pretty like flowers or a sunset instead of those ugly things."
"Your trying to make something out of nothing."
"Your photos are too sensational."
"Don't photograph the homeless."
"Don't photograph kids without their parents' permission."
"I find photos of people boring."
"Your not a very good photographer."
'Your exploiting the homeless."
'Your photo doesn’t work for me."
"I don't like flower photographs they are boring."
"What were you trying to say?"
"Digital photography is not real photography."
"I find it disturbing you think your work is museum worthy."
"It is over processed."
"Don't take pictures of people in public without their permission."
"Don't photograph anorexics."
"Cover up her breasts."
"Your photos are staged."
"I don't like your photo because it leaves nothing for the imagination."
“Never crop your photos. If you have to crop a photo it wasn’t meant to be taken.”
"Your disgusting."
"Your photography is vernacular."
"You should trash that photo."
"I don't like fisheye photos."
“Don’t shoot digital, shoot film, digital is no good.”
"Don't send unsolicited photos to museums."
"She (the person in the photo) is a drunk…she is fat…she is an attention whore…she needs to go to the gym…she is trailer trash."
"Your self-centered"
'Your self-absorbed"
'Your inconsiderate"
"I don't like wide-angle distortion."
"Your a phony...your all talk...you don't know how to take photographs." (When I don’t send in any photos to the photo forums.)
"Your a troll...your looking for attention...your trying to boost your website traffic...your an egomaniac." (When I do send in photos to the photo forums.)
“I’d never shoot digital. If and when film becomes unavailable I will give up photography.”
"Your goofy"
"It is porno."
"I think somebody should tell you: your shots are very boring, nothing is happening there, just very normal snapshots, and you are trying to make them look interesting by shooting with a wide angle and HDR...they are all trash."
"It looks horrible."
"It's a hack composite, looks like it was done for some Sunday paper magazine."
"It looks like the view through the bottom of my shot glass after my fourth tequila at Cozumel."
"15 seconds of my life I will never get back. What a waste."
"Only commercially printed books count, your self-published books don't count." *
'Unless a museum solicits you for your work it does not count if you solicit them." *
"You have no one-man shows or critical reviews." *
"No one wants to look at that."
"You have low morals.'
"I'm not interested in that crap."
* Shortened and paraphrased comments.
Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion. When it comes to art...you can never argue taste - there is no right or wrong. But whenever the topic of 'opinion' comes up I must recount what Clint Eastwood's 'Dirty Harry' character once said...
"Opinions are like assholes...everyone's got one."
As an artist, you first must master the basics. Once you are comfortable with your skill set, you have to become comfortable with your own style and learn to trust your own instincts. If you can't trust your own instincts, then you must follow the critics and do your art for the critics and not for yourself.
Now, a normal photog may be discouraged by the harsh criticism. But I've done many experiments over the years posting work from other famous photogs for discussion on forums. They were all great pix I put up for review. Pretty much all negative comments for the well known photogs as well. Either that or no one comments at all...I guess they couldn't figure out how to put the image down.
Here is a little known masterpiece from Cartier-Bresson's 1952 Decisive Moment book, plate #124 called 'Tehran 1950'.
http://blogsearchtest.tumblr.com/image/110263740956
Here are a few comments from a discussion on it...
"Looks pretty marginal to me. Do you want me to bow down to him?"
"I found it more obnoxious than anything else."
"What makes it so great? The crooked horizon? The poor composition? The distracting background? The blown out chandelier? The blown out black-blob of a curtain? The distracting bright triangle from the area beyond the curtain? The poor use of bokeh to make it hard to tell the wall is a mosaic of mirrors? The pushed-too-far contrast to remove any details."
When I looked at the work of these critics it was nothing, absolutely nothing. Lump all 3 of the photogs together and they could not shoot their way out of a paper bag even if their camera had razor blades glued to it. Yet, they all know how bad Cartier-Bresson is.
It is a common phenomena on online photos forums for the critics to offer comments as if they can shoot it better than everyone else.
Many critics can only talk great photography...but they can't produce great photography.
I've learned to not get my self-worth for my photography from online reviews. When it comes to street and doc work if you come home with 70% of what you were after you can still have a great success.
Photogs can be a jealous bunch. Lots of hatred within many of them. Our work defines us and is an extension of ourselves. But deep down inside many know their work will never amount to anything. Photogs as well as artists are stressed out trying to get attention for their work. All the while the market is polluted with so many images no one person could possibly look through them even part of them in a lifetime.
Bottom line...all this stress can put the photog / artist in a bad mood. But if freezing time or art is in your blood, you must produce and keep producing...whether there have an outlet for ones art or not. Personally, I've learned to forget looking for approval online. Lots of cowards behind the keyboard that will try to tear you down. It can cause more harm than good.
“Never give up! Don’t listen to the haters. Don’t try to be an artist unless you can work and live in isolation, without any thanks....bleak, but needed until you get to the much lauded place."
Scape Martinez
