At 20:29 10/5/02, Ag-Schnozz continued stirring:
Nice to see this thread get some mileage.
Is "technical quality" superior to "artistic quality"?
IMO, no. Both have very nearly equal importance for different reasons.
If all of us gathered for an outdoor adventure to the same park one day
and saw a really neat tree I can guarantee that we would (unless
influenced by others) select different lenses, viewpoints, films, and
settings to photograph that tree.
Yes, you'd get as many different photographs as there are photographers.
During the followup slide show where we all compare pictures, which
photographs will stand out in our minds as being THE photograph. Will it
be the one that is "technically perfect"? Or is it the one that evokes an
emotion? Will we notice the contrast, sharpness or color correctness or
are you suddenly transported by time and place to that park?
It depends entirely on the person viewing the photographs. Having been
through juried shows, judging is very fickle (an understatement). Each has
their own, unique value system for rating and ranking photographs and there
seems to be near zero consistency among them ("arbitrary and capricious"
comes to mind). Some favor abstraction, some favor very deliberate
composition and lighting control, and others favor candid "grab shots"
taken on the fly. They all bring their own baggage, and don't check it at
the door. The general public does the same thing. Each viewer would see
and react to each image differently because each has a unique set of life
experiences within which the viewing experience itself must be
integrated. These differences can be great or small (sometimes very small).
My best guess: Those images that evoke the strongest emotions perceived as
worthy or beneficial by most viewers, and have solid technical strength
would emerge as the BEST photographs. Technically weak photographs
inherently do not have the emotive strength they could have; they do not
reach their full potential. Technical "flaws" are a detractor. In my
veiwing of a photograph, its emotive power is realized first unless there
is a glaring flaw that overwhelms its message. Then The Photographer kicks
in; it's reverse engineered and technical details are examined.
AG-(stir, stir, stir)-Schnozz
"Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble . . ."
-- John
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