A couple of months ago I was on the PPSOP Forum reading a post where someone was seeking feedback on their image. Although the names have been changed to protect the parties, the exact conversation went like this.
Scott: Just looking for some feedback with this portrait I took of this guy. First, what do you think he is doing, where do you think he is and does it speak anything to you? After the first couple responses I’ll post exactly what was going on as I took the photo and why I left it out of focus…
John: Looks like some man playing guitar … but other than that, it doesn’t “speak” anything to me.
Scott: Excellent…very intelligent comment 
Now for those who are actually interested, this picture was not taken with a back-lit scene, it was actually front lit. I was running the sound and lighting for a festival and as I had to be at the sound board, I couldn’t leave to get different angles, however, my boss wanted some pics so I did have my camera with me. As one of the bands was playing I decided that one of the best ways to make a very uncompelling image a little more compelling was to use a high ISO and leave it unfocused a bit to portray shapes instead of details. in the midst of trying this, I focused on this musician and realized that the couple water bottles and a microphone stand with it’s shadow cast on the wall actually looked like the musician was on a highway with a telephone line and vehicles on a road in behind him. Granted, it is not a super amazing photo, but for an amateur, I like it a lot especially since this was one of the first images that I actually applied all my knowledge of photography to try and make something that was really very bland and flat just that much more interesting.
Now if you’re a little more humble than John, maybe this will encourage you to look at things in more than one way and to take challenging subjects and try to bring something creative away from it.
Matthew: You post an image asking for feedback, you get feedback and then you insult the responder by saying he’s not humble – nice.
Luke: I am all for “Art” is a personal thing to each artist but I agree with George. You ask for feedback on a poorly composed, out of focus shot then belittle his opinion?
If you are going to grow as a photographer you need to thicken your skin and be able to take the criticism, feedback that you ask for and grow. I also agree with the first poster, this does not “speak” at all.
When I read this, I was reminded of the expression “fools rush in where angels fear to tread”. Giving and receiving feedback is tricky at the best of times, never mind amongst strangers. I see so much of it online–in forums, on Flickr, and on Facebook–and I wonder just how useful it is. Do you ever give feedback on images? How do you feel when someone comments on your images? Pray tell!
I will give a critique only when asked and only as a private conversation. Key words here being conversation and private. I don’t ask for critique unless I am aware of the qualifications of the person to give a real critique.
A conversation/critique among friends as a method to improve is always valuable as it is generally a give and take.
I just spent 5 min trying to write what the flickr critique is worth and can’t find the words to express the sarcasm. Find people you get to know and trust to be honest with you for critique , find people that know about art or writing or something other than photography to be honest with you, find photographers who know and do what you are trying to do to critique. Value the feedback based on the conversation and always get more than one opinion.
Receiving comments was one reason I enjoyed posting on photo websites. However, I have a different view of that now, those comments are not as important anymore. The repetitive, “Nice colors and composition.” are more about posting a comment so others will check out their images. I have had honest, and very accurate, comments that may sting but when I learn to accept them I realize it may be true. I also know that we have different taste in our photographs, so what one person may enjoy another one will not enjoy. I go along with Ray and feel it is best to find a mentor or two and rely on their feedback.
I seldom comment on pictures in Flickr unless I know the person and can frame my comments in a way that is constructive. More involved feedback is reserved for private conversations.
I suppose I’m in the minority here. I regularly give feedback on images at flickr. That said, I tailor my comments to the intentions of the photographer.
Some folks strive to make beautiful, happy images. They have no aspirations of going pro someday, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in improving their craft. And if their images make me smile, or if the ‘happy’ rubs off, I want to tell them and encourage them. I try to make my comments as specific as possible, ie. if they’ve captured beautiful catchlights in a subject’s eyes, I mention that.
I only give constructive critique/criticism if it is specifically requested. I don’t make assumptions about the reasons people have for posting images.
I understand that there are benefits and drawback of using a public forum for this kind of thing. I seek out different kinds of feedback from a public forum than I would from a respected, established photographer. But even if flickr comments serve as nothing but a type of focus group, giving an indication about what types of images resonate, it still has worth.
I’ve always been baffled by the whole concept of a public critique. Imagine if Jackson Pollock or Van Gogh had posted their work on a public forum for critique. They’d have been trashed and probably banned from the forum for being “off topic”.
Two thoughts beyond that:
1. I create my images for me. I honestly don’t care if people like them or not. They speak to me, and the people that I’d want to appreciate them will “get” them – the others won’t, and that’s fine. While that will cost me sales, I’m not in it for the marketing, only to satisfy the inner creative urge. If I were a budding wedding photographer and wanted to learn about what the market wanted so I could have 3 bookings a day, my perspective would likely be different.
2. I do have 2 mentors whose opinions I value greatly. Not because they’ll say “I’d have done it like this” or “your composition is off”, but because they’ll ask probing questions about my intent about the photo. That’s what gets me to possibly look at it in a different light – to take into consideration with my next photos.
Incidently, that’s why I don’t use Flickr.
Mark
I agree that a lot of the comments on Flickr do seem to be about driving traffic back to the commenters’ own photos. However, when I leave a positive comment, one such as “Nice colours and composition”, I genuinely mean it and try to make it more specific. I think many of us who post to Flickr appreciate the encouragement when a photo of ours “speaks” to someone enough that they will comment.
On the flip side generally speaking I avoid giving constructive criticism unless I know the person or they have indicated they can take it (with a note in their profile or a coridal reply to a previous comment). I would like to think I am thick-skinned enough to take any constructive criticism handed out to me in the same manner, and at the same time remember that a lot of opinions, positive or negative, are subjective.
To me a lot of this interaction is about building relationships and finding fellow artists you can trust. By narrowing down these interactions on Flickr and blogs one can assemble a core of other artists you feel you can interact with honestly and in a friendly manner. For example, after regular reading of her blog and interaction with Sabrina I find a lot of photographers she cites align with my vision – even if my vision isn’t quite there yet. It certainly helps my learning process.
Thanks everyone for your comments. I was waiting to see what people thought before responding and rather than replying individually, I’ll comment here.
I see something common in everything that has been said: Find people who you respect, who know about art and/or photography, and with whom you can have a conversation about your work. I do have a group of photographers whose opinions I value and we share our work on a regular basis. While I think we have the technology to share images and have a conversation via email, I still prefer being able to do this in person. I hope one day to be able to meet each of you and to just spend time talking about our mutual love of photography.
The other thing that several of you have mentioned is getting a mentor. I’ve thought about this but haven’t made a decision yet. I will have to come to the well again and ask for your help on that topic.
Thank you again for your comments. They are always helpful and very much appreciated.