Constructive Criticism

The concept of “constructive criticism” has always bothered me especially when it’s applied to photography.

CC as we will call it is all the rage on FaceBook photography pages as it is in some (maybe all) photography clubs.

The basic concept is of course that someone other than yourself will be offering their thoughts, opinions and often ways to correct or improve your photographic images often without asking for your permission.

So who is this wise mentor? On FaceBook it could be anyone. It might be another photographer or it could be the teenager next door. It might be someone who is an accomplished professional photographer or it could be just another hack with no talent and a big mouth.

In her very excellent and highly recommended book The Artist’s Way Julie Cameron talks about shame as a controlling device.

“Making a piece of art may feel a lot like telling a family secret,” she says. She goes on to reveal that “the art of making art exposes a society to itself. Art brings things to light. It illuminates us. It sheds light on our lingering darkness. It casts a beam into the heart of our own darkness and says, “See?”.

I don’t think there is a better description of what we actually do as photographers than that. Do we not bring things to light? Do we not illuminate?

But then in our eagerness to share our discoveries many a new photographer rushes to publish their truth on FaceBook only to be overwhelmed by a barrage of shaming CC by overly pompous, critical, even hurtful comments.

You can check this out yourself by following one of the popular FaceBook phootography sites and wait until someone publishes a photo of a street person. The over-the-top negative comments will astound you.

When a student asks me to critique their work I normally turn this request back on itself by asking the student what do they think of it?

Most of us know the answers before we ask.

We know whether our photo works based on whether or not we liked it. It’s not about following the rules of composition or getting the exposure right or even sometimes if the image is actually in focus or not (some of the most iconic images ever shot weren’t in focus or “sharp”).

It’s about your truth and your art and whether or not you and only you love it.

New photographers should hold their images close to their hearts and while sharing their art just put it out there and maybe turn off the “comments” selection on social media.

Too many new photographers need the room to grow their art and strengthen their vision before offering it up to the marketplace or FaceBook.

My advise is if anyone offers you CC run as fast as you can the other way.