This is a great post about the value of comments or lack of sometimes. Photos by famous photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson that I guess people didn't realize who they were and left comments.

http://theonlinephotographer.blogspot.c … ernet.html

It is funny,
But some of the critiques were in fact dead on,
I guess it just shows that even masters work can be open to fair interpretation/criticism.

The online critique is only as good as the critiquer.
Of course the person who is being critiqued also needs to be able to sift through the responses, extract the good info and learn something from it.
A critique is worthless if you let it destroy you or if you blow off the responses you don't like.

I've seen this before…

It's funny to note that, as memory serves me, the Edward Steichen piece holds the record for the greatest price a photograph has fetched at auction.

the problem with online critique is you can't see the level of intelligence of the person who made the critique. i always look at the work of a photographer/model's work before i take their comments too seriously.

If you interpret photography as a technician and not from the emotion of the work don't consider yourself a photographer.

No offense but if someone is going to base how good they are based on the opinions of an internet forums they are complete fools.

I've looked that critiques on that website and most of them are fair assessments (from a contemporary eye). I think sometimes people get a little star struck at times.  For example, while I really enjoy *some* of Helmut Newtons work, I find equal number of photos ghastly.  But he was working with different equipment, asthetics were different, even sense of beauty and humor were different then (and throughout his career).  However after recieving some 'critiques' as some people like to call them I now refuse to participate in online critiquing.  For example here is a sampling I've recieved here:

"Your nose looks broken get it fixed" (funny cause i'm behind the camera)
"Hot? You have to be joking. She's not hot."
"She looks weird like she has a golf ball in her mouth"
"Get her nasty stretched out nipple off my screen"

Not a single one of these I believe to be a valid critique. I would have loved to have recieved any one of those critiques on that website instead of these one line zingers.  So the value of internet critiques == nothing worth reading, just another baseless opinion from another idiot in pixel-land.

Patrick.

EDIT:  and before some joker decides to say no one here would be immature enough to say anything like that they all were produced here on MM.  And by so called professionals and defended by other so called pros.

I have seen this before. On a certain level it is funny; all those masters having some nobody pick apart their work. How dare the lowly question what the mighty have done. Then it hits me why should we all be sheep and never question what the mighty have done. Even the opinion of a child with no understanding of what it takes to create art has value. They saw, they may not have understood the artist intention but they feel what they saw ... and to them that is valid enough.

With life experience their understanding will change. What we like today we often don't like years from now. As with everything change is part of life and growing.

This brings me to critique. When asked specifically by someone to critique a photo I will offer my opinion. Everyone should always understand it is just my opinion and nothing more. I also tend to remind people only how they feel about their work is really all that matters. Did they accomplish what they wanted when they clicked the shutter.

When it comes to my photos I really only care how I feel the photo turned out. Did I accomplish what I wanted. Does the image please me. If so great and if not did I come close. When it is put out there for the world to see some people get my vision and others don't. That is the way of the world.

Often someone loves my image for something other than what I intended. To them it has a different meaning. That is valid and great.

What is really great is when one of those people that matters, the ones that decides what is great, the ones that when the say 'this is real art" we all say "oh yeah now I see" because we worry what others will say if we don't. Yeah that is good but really it only matters to our pocket books. Again the only thing that really matters is did we accomplish what we were seeking.

So I always try to remember that all opinions are valid to the person giving the opinion. All have value but they may not have value to me.

That was my ramble for the day ... Now I'm going to go try to click a photo that has all 1000 words.

Bill
http://www.pbase.com/slowpokebill

There's also a great series of critiques of Cartier-Bresson's Mario's Bike