Whether or not you like a photograph is, of course, subjective. But how about assessing whether it is any good or not? To what extent is this also a matter of subjectivity? Until now we have thought about how we ‘read’ and interpret a photograph, taking into account our biases and, as John Walker puts it, our ‘mental context’.
In this topic, we think about how we assess and judge photographs. We look at the role institutions, developers and manufacturers have had on the establishment of metrics by which we assess photographs, and how they shape the kinds of photographs we consume, and make, ourselves. With this in mind, we think about who already is, and who might be, an appropriate audience for your practice.
- Q. How has your own practice been shaped, manipulated perhaps, by the makers of the technology you employ and/or the spaces in which you share your work?
- A.
- Q. What institutions do you wish to engage with to further your photography? How / Will your skillset and practice need to develop in order to be accepted within that institution?
- A.
- Q. If you do not consider yourself to be a ‘professional’ photographer, what do you think you need to do or achieve for this? If that is not something you desire or aspire to, how would you like to be referred to, and how will you achieve that?
- A.
- Q. What photo would I put in room 101?
- A.
Grayson Perry’s lecture: democracy has bad taste
Dinner and show. Fun, fashion and friends.
How do we judge art? Financial value, aesthetic sophistication. The market is the final decider. Validated – enough of the right people have determined that it is good/valuable. peers, serious critics, collectors, art dealers, public, curators (art can be “museum-quality”). Seriousness is a valued currency. “the wrong kind of unreadability”. International art English needs nouns.
public talk about “beauty” – frowned on by academia. It’s about reinforcement of existing constructs. The Venetian Secret. (hoax)
Technology and nostalgia have become co-dependent: new technology and advanced marketing stimulate ersatz nostalgia—for the things you never thought you had lost—and anticipatory nostalgia—for the present that flees with the speed of a click.
—Svetlana Boym, 20074
There is a pdf of the presentation which the following notes are taken from.
French government bought patent for Daguerreotype and gifted it to the world, democratizing photography.
Inviting photos of travel locations made travel more popular.
No. 1 Kodak camera liberated the user – not having to think about the chemical process.
Years later, idiot-proof point-and-shoots furthered the simplicity and desirability
Popularity of lomo cameras comes about partly due to people rejecting the clinical perfection of the new digital cameras.
Define professional photography. Ignoring income. Medium applied to