Reply To: Some Concerns of Mine

[IHF]

Eye doc read again. Without paraphrasing and choosing little bits and throwing them together to try to discredit what was said.
“Art is incredibly subjective and to judge ones critique based on their own work doesn’t help you. It only gives you a reason not to accept their critique. The critic’s work is irrelevant to what you need – an honest opinion. It is relevant to what you really want – a reason to feel good about yourself”.
“you couldn’t pay me to take critic from an accomplished photographer. I’ve listened and watched the critiques of some of these so-called professional photographers that charge big money to let them say nice things and be gentle about the bad things about your work. I see no value in that”

There are no contradictions.
If you are open to criticism, you can learn from beginners, established pros, “experts” (I haven’t met a photographer yet that refers to themselves as experts), and even critical lay people. Their own photography is irrelevant to their opinion/feedback of YOUR photography. Only people who are resistant to criticism, learning from others, working to change/evolve/grow as a photographer end up getting hung up on other’s work and will only listen to feel good, while they search for that “expert” advice they are so desperately seeking that says they are doing a fantastic job of it. They are the ones that should pay to have critiques given by those who charge for it, or go hang out on the “nice” forums with all kinds of “don’t be critical” rules (and there are a chuck load of them out there) because they will walk away feeling good about what they currently produce, and that’s what they are looking for.

I wonder if anyone would ask to see their critquer’s (lol that’s not even a word. Sorry) work if lots of sunshine was thrown at them, and they were only praised and complimented, and told only what they were doing right, or had any sort of negative feedback buffered by emptiness? No? Why is that? Don’t they NEED to know where their shinning critique came from? Don’t they NEED to know that the person who just said they are doing really well knows what they are talking about? Don’t they need that insurance? No, they don’t. Why is that you think? Could it be because their work is irrelevant to their own and to the opinion and feedback given? Nah, that couldn’t be it.

Look with all that said, I always try to look for a positive. Sometimes there just isn’t anything worth talking about. I mean what do you do when all their shots are OOF, their color management doesn’t exist, your bored to tears going through their port of what looks like vacation photos, or you can’t even tell what the subject is supposed to be in more than half their photos, etc? Sorry, but only so much pussy footing around can happen. And it comes out like this “you really should be charging for your photography services”. Yes, art is subjective, but the technical aspects are not.

Charles Schwab
Aren’t most the people who work for him in cubicles? I’d need a lot of positive reinforcement too.
But, if his quote rings true to you, why not start critiquing here? Like I said you could add some balance.