Speaking of "real world" critiques, many, maybe most here have never had the experience of presenting a portfolio or in the case of models, a comp card to a real world client, ad executive, art director or so forth. To be honest, with more than 10 years on the net and more thn 50 years in photography, I've rarely seen such brutal critiques on the net. Here are a few quotes which have stuck in my memory from past years. The comments about models were made in my presence and often in the model's presence, the comments about photographers were made to me about my work (And some wonder why I like bourbon so much!) I was sitting in front of the reviewer for each of these comments.
- "Well this sucks", as he tossed my portfolio toward as trash can.
- "Have you ever heard of actually controlling light?"
- "Did you use a K-Mart point and shoot camera for these?" (Shot with a 4x5)
- "You can go now. Next!"
- "What do these have to do with the pictures I need?"
For what it's worth, within 6 to 12 months, I ended up with assignments from each of those who made those comments.
About models:
- "Her nose, it's humongous!"
- "What with all that metal on her face, it's all I can look at! (about a small nose stud)
- "Your tits are enormous, like cows teat!" The model was standing in front of him.
- "You can't stand up straight, do you have a deformity in your back or are you just lazy?"
- Can you make your eyes bigger?"
-"That tattoo, were you a sailor or a marine?"
I could go on, but these are some "real world" examples
which make forum critiques seem gentle and kind. The moral; listen to the critiques and comments; ignore them or not, but understand and evaluate them. There is a reason they were made, they are someone else's observation of your work. Sometimes there is no basis in reality for the comments, but sometimes there is.
My place