Is the photography comp dying?
- Thread starter Firky
- Start date
Paul Russell
Psychogeographer
thedyslexic1 said:
I don't know. For example, one month I looked at them all completely "blind" to the names, and two of my three picks were Alef and Skim, which would look like a right fix.
Can't remember if I actually voted for them, or actively discriminated against them...
Edit: BTW, I wasn't taking thedyslexic1's comment at being directed at me or anything, just musing/wibbling out loud...
big eejit
She looks like Alan Gilzean
Crispy said:Graph with full history:
On that sort of scale, there is an relentless upwards trend, with only 'Copies of the masters' and the last two mnths marring the record
Good point. The comp's never been in better health. Apart from two difficult themes - copying the masters and humour - the trend is upwards.
Mind you, standards must be slipping cos I've won 3 times this year!
big eejit
She looks like Alan Gilzean
thedyslexic1 said:
I've got no mates on here.
I still think an anonymous competition has some merit tho.
If we created an Urban75 flickr account with the login details available to all we could all post pics anonymously then vote for our faves on here. After the voting the winner would come forward and reveal their true identity!
big eejit said:Good point. The comp's never been in better health. Apart from two difficult themes - copying the masters and humour - the trend is upwards.
Mind you, standards must be slipping cos I've won 3 times this year!
Err if you draw it as a curve the trend is downwards.... it is almost bell shaped
Robster970
Pay homage to Global Bob
I don't buy the arse kissing theory. I think most people who post on here are secure enough in themselves not to have to enter into a Greece/Cyprus Eurovision style voting situation.
What I do buy is that posters have personal preferences which mean they like some people's stuff more than others. For example, I would probably vote more for Enumbers than for Cybertect and more for Cybtertect than for Vintage Paw. Is that arse kissing considering I don't know any of them from adam? No, that's me exercising a right to vote for stuff I prefer stylistically over others, regardless of the theme.
What I do buy is that posters have personal preferences which mean they like some people's stuff more than others. For example, I would probably vote more for Enumbers than for Cybertect and more for Cybtertect than for Vintage Paw. Is that arse kissing considering I don't know any of them from adam? No, that's me exercising a right to vote for stuff I prefer stylistically over others, regardless of the theme.
Robster970
Pay homage to Global Bob
firky said:
Crispy - can you put the trend line on the graph? Firk's can't do numbers by the looks of it
Gromit
International Man of Misery
firky said:
I believe it was the second gunman on the grassy knoll who is really to blame.
The comedy month was a bit hard so i didn't bother and then kind of dropped out as a result.
Also I rarely even get even an honourable mention. No encouragement = no motivation.
Dhimmi has some good points too.
Paul Russell
Psychogeographer
Robster970 said:
I think it's also natural to take a closer look at people's stuff that you've liked before, which I suppose can lead to some bias, without having anything to do with cronyism.
For example, if a pic by one of my favourite photographers like Maciej D or Locaburg pops up on my contact photo page on Flickr, I'll give it a closer look than pics by other people.
mauvais
on reddit or something
I think if anything's dying it's the photography forum as a whole.
Personally I blame the monthly threads leading to the demise of the critique one. We might get more people posting but there's no impetus to improve any more; it's just 'ooh that's nice dear have a cup of tea' instead of 'it's wonky as a fuckin' jelly plank and you've shot into the sun again you wazzock'.
Now everyone will say 'yeah but we don't want to be ripped apart, and what do you know anyway, you mean little cretin', and that's fair enough, but a love-in doesn't really increase most people's engagement in photography.
Personally I blame the monthly threads leading to the demise of the critique one. We might get more people posting but there's no impetus to improve any more; it's just 'ooh that's nice dear have a cup of tea' instead of 'it's wonky as a fuckin' jelly plank and you've shot into the sun again you wazzock'.
Now everyone will say 'yeah but we don't want to be ripped apart, and what do you know anyway, you mean little cretin', and that's fair enough, but a love-in doesn't really increase most people's engagement in photography.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
I haven't entered for a couple of months because the themes didn't inspire me. Also, I've been kind of busy, so I haven't been taking many photos, and I can't be bothered hunting through old stuff to use as entries.
I don't think it's dying, though. As the graph indicates, if a good topic comes along, people will probably enter again.
I don't think it's dying, though. As the graph indicates, if a good topic comes along, people will probably enter again.
Robster970
Pay homage to Global Bob
Indeed JC, but don't you think there might be a hint of truth in what Mauvais has said? That the focus has moved from criticism and improvement to a more laissez faire environment?
Paul Russell
Psychogeographer
Maybe the photography competition should be relaunched as a reality TV show starring Martin Parr as the evil one.
No, hold on. That would be ridiculous.
No, hold on. That would be ridiculous.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
Robster970 said:
Yes and no: I've received more criticism on the monthly threads, than I ever did on the 'critics' thread...
I think the photo forum was becoming moribund before the introduction of the monthly threads. Many people are sensitive about their artistic output, and were fearful of letting the panel of judges have a go. I'm glad to see the more free environment that encourages people to put up photos. I for one like to see the diversity. I prefer that to having the same old same olds dissecting one another's photos.
Robster970
Pay homage to Global Bob
You could use a dragon's den format with a number of them slagging your work off with the Peter Jones-a-like (probably David Bailey) just laughing in disbelief most of the time.
The monthly thread thing I started was perhaps a bad idea - and TBH I only look at vintage paws', JC2s, Stanleys, Mauvis', Rob's and Pie_1's because the rest are erm.. well not to my liking and often shit. Although you do get the odd good entry. I always check paul russell's photos out but, I hope this doesn't sound rude, I have seen that before from paul.
VP's and Stanleys have different styles and the photos they take are hardly ever the same - but both carry the artists 'stamp'. If that makes sense?
If I want to see battle shit grey photography then I go for <insert posters' name>. If I want oohs and aahs I look at these two people (and pie's), if I want to see something I haven't seen a thousand times on urban already - I browse flickr or deviantart
VP's and Stanleys have different styles and the photos they take are hardly ever the same - but both carry the artists 'stamp'. If that makes sense?
If I want to see battle shit grey photography then I go for <insert posters' name>. If I want oohs and aahs I look at these two people (and pie's), if I want to see something I haven't seen a thousand times on urban already - I browse flickr or deviantart
Robster970
Pay homage to Global Bob
firky said:
Yes but I did it with eloquence and a certain panache
JC said:
Good point. The odd thing though is that anybody was allowed to criticise. Why did people feel less qualified than others to criticise (and I mean in a constructive way rather than flaming people's work without any sound analysis behind it).
Robster970 said:
TBH I'd much rather people were heavily critical but constructive of my photographs than, "oohh that's nice firky." when I know fine well it is bollocks but can't tell you why - this is why I have strayed to another photography forum with my photos.. also flickry is quite good for honest critique.
Everyone on urban is too polite. Move it to P&P and grow some balls. Tell stanley that is shit, tell mauvis he should throw away his camera and make VP cry
Robster970
Pay homage to Global Bob
firky said:TBH I'd much rather people were heavily critical but constructive of my photographs than, "oohh that's nice firky." when I know fine well it is bollocks but can't tell you why - this is why I have strayed to another photography forum with my photos.. also flickry is quite good for honest critique.
Everyone on urban is too polite. Move it to P&P and grow some balls. Tell stanley that is shit, tell mauvis he should throw away his camera and make VP cry
Maybe there are a just a few of us that don't mind harsher criticism and can take it on the chin. Maybe we figured out that we don't get that here and buggered off elsewhere for it. Majority rules and we're in the minority. Whether the forum is a better place for it is questionable. Depends on your perspective on these things.
As for my english, that was a one off sentence. I'll come up with another one like that in about a years, time.
Johnny Canuck3
Well-Known Member
firky said:
I wouldn't put you in with that lot.
Robster970
Pay homage to Global Bob
Johnny Canuck2 said:I wouldn't put you in with that lot.
I'd put him in a darkened room with them for 15 mins, about the size of a toilet cubicle, just as an experiment to see what would happen.
alef
Needs to take more photos
Howdy, folks. Good thread.
I really haven't been taking many pictures recently, though I've always tended to go through troughs and peaks of interest in photography. Fatherhood has become my new main hobby, and I've avoided boring urbanites with endless baby pics....
But specifically with the photo comp: I think it's easy to lose excitement after a while. Either people get frustrated with not winning or they've won and lose motivation. Last month with Juxtaposition one of my entries got quite a fair number of votes and my immediate thought was "noooo, please let someone new win." Which is quite silly, if I'm entering then I should be keen to win?
Meanwhile on the Flickr theme baby and kids group I have never even managed to get an honourable mention despite entering almost every week for a year now. Half the time I curse the judges for awarding to the dull cutesy Athena poster shots and half the time I stay strong in my self belief and enter yet again.
Back to this forum generally: it is about having a few core enthusiasts keeping things going. Especially important are some interesting new threads (I completely lost interest in the monthly thread).
I really haven't been taking many pictures recently, though I've always tended to go through troughs and peaks of interest in photography. Fatherhood has become my new main hobby, and I've avoided boring urbanites with endless baby pics....
But specifically with the photo comp: I think it's easy to lose excitement after a while. Either people get frustrated with not winning or they've won and lose motivation. Last month with Juxtaposition one of my entries got quite a fair number of votes and my immediate thought was "noooo, please let someone new win." Which is quite silly, if I'm entering then I should be keen to win?
Meanwhile on the Flickr theme baby and kids group I have never even managed to get an honourable mention despite entering almost every week for a year now. Half the time I curse the judges for awarding to the dull cutesy Athena poster shots and half the time I stay strong in my self belief and enter yet again.
Back to this forum generally: it is about having a few core enthusiasts keeping things going. Especially important are some interesting new threads (I completely lost interest in the monthly thread).
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