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I am not a good critic though thanks to my lack of courage to tell it like it is when asked for an opinion from others. I feel that I would make a fine, spineless United Nations bureaucrat with my cowardice. However, there are plenty of photographers ready to throw themselves at the whims of magazine (and some internet) editors, wanting commentary and risking potential harsh words. Now if the photographic editor is actually a professional photographer, who earns more money actually taking photographs rather than writing about it for a magazine, then that is not as bad. However, how many of the photography critics actually earn the lion’s share of their yearly income from being a working photographer? Or are they even professional photographers? Now, I do not think Popular Photography is the worse magazine out there, indiscriminately laying waste to innocent trees to make the paper for the editorial pulp; I reserve that accolade to Petersons Photographic. Be that as it may, I do not think highly of Popular Photography’s editors as photographers. Competent yes but professional, let alone even good, hardly.
I mean geez, there are some pretty snazzy photos shown in Pop Photo and Shutterbug every month, but some of the slop that gets to see the light of day being published in a big time national photography magazine is mind-numbing. You would think that some writers and supposed photographers that have reputations to maintain would want to showcase only excellent images to go with their articles or reviews. Instead, we get a regular dose of drek that would do wonders for the constipated if we could somehow convert the images into a bottled laxative; Photomucil, does wonders for the constitution. So, again, why do we want to have these people pass judgment on our images? Ego! (I have plenty of it myself:-) I think that so many of us want to see our images published in any fashion we can that we would even accept some second rate photographer telling us what is wrong with our images and how to improve it, knowing full well that that same editor has not created a similarly good image in years if not decades.
Even so, the fact that I can enjoy my photos for their own personal subjective value is also fine and if the only person who states the photos are the best happens to be me, well, get off my cloud ‘cause you can’t always get what you want even if you want to paint it black because it won’t be the last time that I can’t get no satisfaction. (Sorry, was listening to the Rolling Stones when I typed this up, it’s all over now, so don’t start me up :-). Amateur photography is a personal pursuit that can be shared with many others; however, the first person to please in the pursuit of the craft is you. If you are satisfied with the images you created, no other opinion is necessary. Now I do mean these comments for those photographers comfortable with the skills they have developed over time. Beginning photographers will likely seek out comment about their photos as much as possible because they need feedback in order to learn and grow. As one advances though, one comes to realize how to construct a good photo from composition to exposure to whatever technique is required to get your message across. These skills, I believe, come from practice, perseverance, and largely, from a good attitude towards learning the craft and not from the critique of so-called photography writers in the mass market press. Oh, in case you're wondering about the images used here, they are some of the ones I've sent off in the vain-glorious attempt at 15 minutes of fame of hopeful publishing in some capacity or another. And the one below, which I thought was "pretty" enough but a bit too dark for any potential use other than as a personal Christmas card, was good enough for a local radio station to solicit usage rights for it in a TV commercial - yes, I'm tooting my own horn here, forgive my indiscretion, but my personal photographic triumphs are few and far between :-)
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Correspondence & About this website Copyright © 1998-2008 Edwin Leong |
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Edwin's
Vignettes -Masochistic
Needs for Self Expression 
I
think most photographers, if not all, have a desire to have their
photographs acknowledged and accepted by others. Certainly, I am very
appreciative when I receive positive comments about the quality of
my photos and have a very natural defensive attitude when comments
are not positive. One has to take these negative comments in stride
though, for if they come from other photographers you respect, then
one is richer from learning about not so much faults but from learning
where improvements can be made.
So,
why do so many photographers across
Okay,
personal disclosure time, yours truly has submitted some of his second
rate images for possible publication in the past and each time, I
was rightly rejected because my stuff was also laxatative drek. That
doesn’t mean that I won’t submit myself to masochistic punishment
in the future for that narcotic thrill of seeing my name attached
to a photo published in a national or international magazine, however,
I would have to come up with a truly exceptional image before it happens
again. I did get published once in a local business weekly paper;
alas, the headshot image was of such quality that I was glad that
no credit was supplied or else I would have to have been the Alan
Smithee of the photographic world.