the value of “evaluation”

out on a limb
st martins, new brunswick

Getting a critique on your images can be a scary process especially when you’re in a room full of strangers. However I found myself geniunely looking forward to this part of the workshop each day when we would submit three images for evaluation by Andre and Freeman. The images were projected on a large screen and they would proceed to discuss our ability to see and our use of the building blocks and visual design principles to create a compelling image. Their comments would include their first reactions (“yummy” for particularly amazing images) and sometimes they would flip images from the horizontal orientation to the vertical or crop an image to show a different framing of the subject matter. At times there was discussion around the inclusion of an element in the frame or the tonal contrast both from a positive perspective or from the perspective of making an image even stronger.

I’ve been reflecting on why I enjoyed this process so much and I’ve come to the realization that the approach taken during the workshop was different from other kinds of critiques I’ve had. It all begins with the word “evaluation”. Not critique. Not feedback. Evaluation: the act of ascertaining or fixing the value or worth of something.  To me this implies that we begin with something that already has value. Anything else that arises in the discussion is focused on improving the image i.e. making it even more valuable. Several months ago I did a post on the gift of feedback and much of what I said there is still true. The only thing I would change today is to call it “evaluation” rather than “feedback”. It might seem like a small thing to many but to me, it makes a world of difference.