2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

[TonyT]

See

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/winners-royal-photographic-societys-160th-international-photography-exhibition-1641310

I just love the whippet and the Sheep one....

Don't get me wrong, but on the first one of Liam, is that dust spots all over the lower part of the image or are they out of focus stones?

[Tigger]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

it looks like dust to me. they do pick some odd winners, but agree the whippet and the Sheep are the stand out shots, the others, well, I've forgotten them already

[Richard W]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

Can't see how pictures of people cut off at the knees or with the tips of their fingers cut off can be the best - but maybe I'm just old fashioned (which I am).
I don't even like the way the whippet has been cropped on the left side.

[antoeknee]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

Got to say majority seem unremarkable.

[Tigger]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

Got to say majority seem unremarkable.

don't you often find that the case in many of these big photo comps, now had they looked here they would have got a better idea of what photography is about

[El Sid]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

The cynic inside me says that it's all about trends and fashion - as long as the work is 'in' with the trend and the trendy it'll do OK no matter how dull the rest of us find it...

To be even more cynical I often feel that the same people also deliberately seek out that which has no 'popular' appeal regardless of how indifferent the subject/execution/presentation may be - as long as the proles don't like it they will...

[@imagesBV]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

It seems to be fashionable to present individuals with a sallow look....almost objectifying themselves.
I love the Countryside Children for composition but don't like the harshness of the OOF trees.
I think the cutting off of body parts in the frame is about transcending the need to include everything carefully....it says the photographer is above needing to do that....they have nothing to prove.
All of the images have a certain quality....whats not needed is either entirely cropped out of the frame or very out of focus.....the presentation is very smooth with no noise at all and colours are a tad desaturated.
And portraits with the studio background paraphernalia eh! ...again saying we have nothing to hide or prove....we have supreme confidence.

[colin C]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

Wow.

From the oldest, and dare I say foremost Photographic society in the world, we get .............. excrement! There is not a single image there that I would be proud to append my name to. So from such an august organisation I obviously doubt my own initial judgement, after all they are the experts and I must be missing some fundamental element that makes these shots worthy. So I look at them again and again and spend time studying each image for the merit that the judges found and I reluctantly conclude it must be a case of the Emperor's new clothes. The Court can all see that he is stark naked, but because he is the Emperor, no one says a word and they all applaud.

Presumably this is the same thought process that gives us a shark preserved in formaldehyde, a brick wall and an unmade bed, all disguised as cutting edge art and displayed in prestige exhibitions.

I look forward to competition results so I can view superb images that I can aspire to, but on this occasion, that would appear to be not the case. I would suggest that they are courting controversy, rather than excellence!

[El Sid]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

I sometimes think that the problem with modern art is that the critics, pseuds and other general hangers-on who pontificate left, right and centre are simply obsessed with the concept behind the work rather than the end result. To them it's the mood, intention and vision of the artist up to and at the point of creation that matters, not the creation itself. This is probably why so many modern artworks are accompanied by many paragraphs, if not pages, of text as the artist or some prefabricated opinion merchant attempts to explain/justify the almost transcendental glory of the creative process involved - especially if the actual work has all the visual appeal of car crash...

[ColytonJohn]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

I like the sheep, albino's eye (although I'd have cropped a smidgen off the bottom) and the horse in the water (largely due to the woman's slightly crazed expression) but the remainder I found technically uninspiring and, IMNSHO, unworthy of even an enthusiast's forum such as ours let alone national award and plaudits. I feel myself getting more out of step with modern society as each day passes

Cheers,
John

[Nathaniel]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

You are not the only one John who is out of step with modern society. Pickled sheep is modern art today!!!!!

[@imagesBV]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

Totally agree Nigel.

A good book to read on this is Will Gompertz's Think like an artist

[Richard W]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

Many years ago I remember a set of "prize winning" photos appearing in a photo magazine. They were all like the sort of thing you get if you give a child a camera, all of people with heads, legs etc cut off. Much angry commentary from readers of the "these should have gone straight in the bin" sort. However, one person eventually noticed that a) all of the "winners" were current or recent students at the Royal College of Art and b) the judges were all lecturers - at the Royal College of Art. The students were producing exactly what their masters were telling them was "Art".

I also remember an interview with Tracey Emin about her infamous unmade bed, which went something like :
Interviewer : But is it really Art?
Emin : 'Course it is
Interviewer : Why?
Emin : 'Cause I say it is.

I long ago gave up discussing art with arty people, their minds work in mysterious ways to me. Apparently if one doesn't appreciate a particular work it has nothing to do with the work itself, it's because you're not an artist, if you were you would recognise it's value rather than considering it a load of pretentious nonsense. Thus only artists can truly appreciate art.

[MartinR]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

My reaction when I looked at these images was - "perhaps I'm not that bad after al!."

Martin

[AlexR!]

Re: 2107 Royal Photographic Society award.. results

My reaction when I looked at these images was - "perhaps I'm not that bad after al!."

I want to be inspired, but find them completely underwhelming.