Eye of the beholder, and all that
posted by Kerry-Anne
We went to a photography club awards evening tonight. We weren't involved at all (and don't belong to a photography club), but just went along to have a look at the photos on display and to see a bit of the judging.There were some really beautiful entries, but what struck me most was how the judges' ideas of what constituted a prize-winning photograph differed so dramatically from my own at times. I listened with surprise as they gave relatively low scores to shots I thought were well-composed and original, and exceptionally high scores to shots that I considered to be fairly ordinary.
It made me realise once again that the appreciation of art really is a very subjective thing. (It also made me glad that no-one was scoring any of our photos.)
5 Comments:
which club was it?
Allan >> There were a bunch of clubs from all over the Western Cape - Fish Hoek, Paarl, Tygerberg, Hermanus, Cape Town, etc.
There were some really nice photos on display. The venue was Sanlam head office in Bellville. They have an art gallery which the clubs made use of for the evening.
From your impression, what were the judges looking for? what did they undervalue?
I'm interested because my club entered (including a few of my shots), but I couldn't be there since there was a concert elsewhere.
I suspect beauty is a very subjective thing at times.
I too am glad that none of my photos are being judged! :)
Shen >> It's the first such even that we've attended so I'm not sure exactly what the judges were looking at. The process of judging was very fast-paced... understandably - there were lots of photos to work through. I think the value of a photo often depends on the viewer's experiences and their state of mind. It is a subjective thing. There are basics such as creativity and composition that help one score high, but IMHO it truly is in the eye of the beholder.
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