Mon Jun 02, 2008 1:28 pm
This has been an interesting discussion, but I wonder if there's a great deal of assumption of the level of most Pbasers? I would suggest Pbase probably has 10% of it's members that call themselves photographers, but there's probably only 10% of that that anyone else would call photographers, amatuer or otherwise. In my opionion there are a lot of people who consider themselves qualified and hence get offended by anything that suggests otherwise.
I think there's a lot of people on Pbase trying to learn so I think the 'polite' comments serve as good encouragement on the way, if only to keep shooting. At some point the penny will drop because of the continuous encouragement, at which point the encouragement then loses it's appeal and stops serving the benefit. There's a multitude of people at different levels which requires different levels and forms of encouragement, but how do you judge that level with each person?
I had a harsh anonymous critic, but I can honestly say I learnt more from their harshness and honesty than from the multitude of 'polite' comments. This however has lead me to question what I'm doing and hence blocking me actually doing it, so has it been useful so I only look for shots worth taking, or simple lead me to be more honest about my capability, and hence not taking the shot? I took their critique too personally, but I hasten to add that they were technically wrong on occasions and less than pleasant in the critique they offered. If they'd actually shown themselves so I could look at their work to get an understanding I would have appreciated it more, but they obviously didn't have the courage of their convictions, hence to me their input was almost pointless.
Ultimately each 'photographer' needs to learn some honesty about the quality of their own work, and if at the end of the day they simply enjoy their own results, then that's just as valid as 'the ultimate shot' that everyone else enjoys.
Like others, over time, I have become frustrated with the Pbase mechanism and what seemingly floats to the top of the pile, but at the end of the day, the Pbase mechanism is simply about what you put in. If your concentration is vote and comment trading then your results will simply be good comments and votes. If your concentration is taking pictures then you'll have good pictures to look back on. I suspect many know where they fall and accept the results of the efforts in whatever area they are proficient in.
I wonder, as with the PAD meta gallery, whether there should be other similar galleries, i.e. a show and tell meta gallery, a comments and critique meta gallery etc..................
I hasten to add, that the above viewpoint is from someone who considers themselves unqualified!