Critiquing the crit

It seems that everyone is an expert in almost everything these day and photography is no exception. In fact its probably the only professional trade where you will find people absolutely busting at the seems to tell you with up most glee they have never had a days formal training along their journey to be the most amazing photographer in the world. Of course there are those who are just gifted and can turn their creative hand to almost anything and produce amazing work, for the rest of us its more about practice and long term education. Its also probably worth noting that its almost always someone who hasn't got a degree in any subject that will be the one telling you that its not worth the paper its written on.

Critique is often confused with criticism,those of us on Facebook who have dared to venture into any of the north east based "photography" groups will know all to well how things can escalate quickly from a simple comment expressing how an image doesn't quite look right or could be better into sending message via inbox to arrange a meet up to discuss things,how should i say it,on a more personal level! The groups were probably made in the best intentions or at very least as a self promotion tool for the admins. Mostly everything on the internet although not always obvious at first has been manipulated and structured around getting something for the creator. Make a group and invite all your friends,make sure the title sounds something a little official so when others go looking for a community they want to join it sounds safe enough. "Lets tall photography" just for example, now lets say you want to share a picture of your dog,kids,fireworks or the moon. as long as its not too out there or either too good or bad you'll be pretty safe and maybe get a couple of likes and "nice shots" which is all great,its not bothering anyone but its not really going to help you get any better at photography is it? You notice this after a few weeks and your not stupid so you want to push the boundaries a little,however you don't really understand the rules of engagement. Up until now you've been under the radar from the creator of the group as your images aren't going to threaten his or her position as alpha tog in front of all their friends.

That's when you post the best photo you've taken  and your excited to see how many likes you get,its like an addiction,if you don't get anything you have been lucky and should cut your losses and run. But you don't! You see it as a challenge and cant understand why its being ignored. Again you post an image that's up there with the best in the group. That's when its too late,it starts in spurts of little niggly comments of the "I wouldn't have done this", "you shouldn't have done that"  kind. The pack is circling,and the big tog hasn't even come out of their cave yet. You weather the storm brushing it off with your retorts of "I meant to do it like that,because" and silence falls over your comments and your post starts to slip down the news feed. Your glad you think its over and are still licking your wounds when you refresh the page to see there at the top is a post that's been running the whole time you were being berated. The top tog has laid the killer blow,signalling their disdain to the group of how "newbys" should learn to take criticism in the manor its meant and not get upset when their images are in effect ripped to pieces. Consider yourself well and truly served by a pro,don't take it personally though its just a game.

My personal favourite public group execution came a few weeks ago when i watched as an acquaintance posted a picture he had taken of a lock off a garden fence. he was into abstract images and clearly thought this was sufficient enough reason to post for some friendly "feedback" The first comment posted was from one of the group minions who went into great detail to tell him what was wrong with the image and a long list of the do's and don'ts of the group,their rules. He was quite exhaustive with his explanation and even i thought well fair enough that is what the group is about and sometimes its good to have rules. 5 minutes later the minion posted a picture of the selfie kind swagging a bottle of Jack Daniels with the comment "bottoms up,its the weekend"..It didn't end well.

So,we will be having none of that kind of behavior,which is actually the point of this blog post if that has been lost somewhat. Jill kindly presented us with some guidelines of how to approach critique in the manner it is intended. To offer a balanced opinion after taking into consideration many aspects of the image.

Here's how ours looked from our group critique of 35mm work so far

I was slightly disappointed the only negatives were from my blurred edges from printing but thankful for small graces all the same. 

Another great way of approaching this would be to compile your own check list like this one which is similar to that used for an editorial. Literally ticking all the right boxes can make an image successful or not make the grade needed.