A little while ago, I watched a YouTube video about how, as creative people, we tend to fixate too much on any negative critique of our work while dismissing any compliments or accolades we might receive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rlcIor_qEo&t=3s The video was presented by Alex Kilbee on his YouTube channel ''The Photographic Eye''. One statement he made that stuck with me was, ''Being a creative person, putting yourself out there, is an act of courage.'' I have to agree with that statement. As a photographer, what I am doing is making images based on my subjective view of the world or whatever scene or subject is in front of my camera. Ideally, a good photograph is not just depicting the subject but is also communicating my interpretation of the subject within a personal context. Creative people are sensitive folk. The work we present, if it has any value at all, comes from a very personal viewpoint. An offhand rejection of that work is often perceived, by extension, as a rejection of ourselves.
The trick, at least to a certain extent, is to separate oneself from the work. The photograph, once made and presented, has a life of its own. It can be judged either favorably or not on its own merits. At best, all I can do, as a creator of that work, is to accept either the critique or favorable response it might bring.
However not all critique has value. Nor should all critique be accepted. For any critique to be valid, it has to come from a standpoint of an interest in improving subsequent work. Furthermore, in my opinion, the critique, if valid, should only be accepted if offered by someone who is producing work that is better or at least at the same level as the stuff I crank out. There's an old adage that applies here. ''If you don't play the game, you don't make the rules.'' For example, my woodworking skills are pretty basic. I can build a very simple shelving unit or perhaps a sturdy work table. That's about it. It would be supercilious of me to critique the work of a master cabinet maker, considering my very moderate skills in that craft. Furthermore, my critique would have little (if any) value to said cabinet maker as I can offer nothing in the way of knowledge or skills to improve his work. So to separate critique which has some value from that which simply comes from a place of antipathy, it seems to me that I should question the qualifications of the critic.
In actual practice it works this way A few years back, I participated in an art and craft show at a local market hall. A lady who I've seen about town, but whose name I don't know, stopped by the booth that I had set up. Perhaps she was just having a bad day, but as she browsed through the dozens of pictures I had on display and in my book, she had nothing good to say about any of them. ''Seen it, seen it, meh.. not that great...'' As she was making these comments while browsing through my stuff, she at one point turned her head to look at me with a bit of a malicious glint in her eye. She just was checking to see if any of the stones she threw were hitting the mark. All I could think of at that point was, ''I bet you didn't have any friends In high school!'' But I said nothing and just let her browse and troll.
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| This is not the show where the nasty critique happened. I just happen to like the picture. My friend Kaitlynd, who helped me with the show is a very talented artist and designer. Check out her stuff here.https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=kaitlynd%20wilson%20-%20artist%2Fmuralist and here. https://www.instagram.com/kaitlynd_designs/ Hey, I just remembered that I built the two little wooden easels on the tabletop. Maybe I have some woodworking skills after all! |
Finally she said something to the effect of ''You really don't have anything. It's all just local stuff.'' I acknowledged her point. '' Well I don't own a car so a lot of my pictures are of local scenes.'' I pointed out a nice blue hour shot. ''I took this one in Chicago.'' Her response ''Meh, it's just a boat.''
I pointed to another photo. ''This one was taken on Manitoulin Island. Her response, ''Meh, it's just a sunset.'' (Actually it's a sunrise but hey, I wasn't about to quibble.)
''I know this one is just a local scene, but did you notice how the hoar frost covers everything? I remember that morning. I froze my butt off to get that shot!'' She just shrugged.
Finally I said, ''You seem to have some strong opinions about photography. I was wondering where I could see some of your work. Do you have any shows coming up? Or maybe a website or Facebook page that I could look at?'' Her response, ''Well no, I really don't do photography.'' I pressed on, ''Well maybe you draw or do some painting? Anything in the visual arts?'' ''Well no, not really.'' It was my turn to shrug. ''Well, thanks for stopping by. Have a nice day!''
Shortly after she left, I sold a print of the Chicago picture to a lady who fell in love with it. She and her husband had just moved to the area from Chicago and she thought it would make a unique Christmas gift for him for his den. I could tell similar interesting stories for almost every picture I sold that day. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet some very cool people.
So ultimately, I have no problem with people who are critical of what I do. As long as they are creating stuff too and have the guts to put it out there. If not, they're just wasting my time. I mean, why should I listen to your critique if you're not creating anything yourself? Like I said earlier, ''If you don't play the game, you don't make the rules.''
Well, I gotta go now. I got a new camera for Christmas and there's pictures out there that need taking and stories that need telling. Besides, someone has to keep making stuff to feed the critics!
...more later
