Tom C wrote: Hi Tom,
> I think all levels of photographers should contribute, as I > said back then as well. I personally find the list to be > largely self-congratulatory. In other words the vast > majority of shots are praised whether they possess merit or > not. I'm glad I didn't say that :-) > While I don't believe the photographer should be > denigrated for what might be considered generally a poor shot > by most, neither does > *apparently* thoughtless random commendaion help them > improve. It also tends to make the commendation for good > shots less meaningful. That's fair comment. > I probably came across too strongly, and apologize. Of course > the list is used by a wide variety of people and for > different purposes. As you can see, I use it as an outlet as > opposed to kicking my dog. ;-) There isn't anything to apologise for. Everyone has their own idea about 'how and what subjects' and conflicting opinions and differences in style abound. > >As regards the stinking street shots, in an age where the camera is > >increasingly being viewed the same way as a weapon and treated > >accordingly, I find it fascinating how photographers are > still taking > >pictures, often very good ones and I often wonder if the image as a > >reflection of society is the problem, rather than the > technical aspects > >of the picture itself. > > > >Malcolm > > Yeah, I shouldn't have said that. Most (not all) street > photography that I see is to my liking. I've seen lots of > pictures of homeless people (not that they define street > photography in any way). While their situation is often > deplorable, I don't find that a poignant subject necessarily > makes the photograph good, just as an adorable kitten does > not, and just as a beautiful vista does not. The power of the single image. Despite all the video footage shown on TV etc it's usually one or two images that define a news story or topic and a photograph can be taken to show something in a certain way. Whatever it is, it will result in some people thinking it's defined a moment or a situation and some will find it contrived. Any of these issues we can agree - or agree to disagree on, and I just find any situation involving the obvious use of a camera in street shots is worthy of a moment to look at it, simply because of the increasingly negative way photography in general is portrayed. What I enjoy doing is taking pictures of buildings and areas that are under threat. Mostly, they have been taken on slide film and viewed possibly once or twice at the time and then several years (maybe 10 or more) later when I talk with friends about how an area was. Surprisingly few people do this and if anyone wants to see a picture, there aren't many to choose from; so it might be a technically crap photo, but that's it or nothing. What I think I need to do is photo things that everyone knows/everyday items and seen and can take a look at with a view to evaluating the picture itself. So I will have a crack at this over the Xmas break and post one here for truthful discussion. At the end of the day, I need to know that my main interest photography will improve, because I can't go back and photo things long since gone. So, I will contribute, I'm after an honest opinion and we'll see where we go from there. Malcolm -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
