Just Saying (7/14/2011)
I recently saw a photography contest in which the winner in the Nature category was a generic image of the famous Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. In my mind, the decision reflected more on the adequacy of the judge rather than the talent of the photographer. Imagine Gordon Ramsay judging a cooking contest and awarding first place to a Big Mac.
Category: Just Saying
In my experience most photography contest results say more about the judge(s) than the photographers.
I agree with Jim. And that explains a lot about contests.
I cannot imagine Gordon Ramsay, awarding first place to a Big Mac, so obviously I’m pretty sure that the judge is not the Gordon Ramsay of Photography… Probably is something like the owner of Macdonalds.
That’s why they say “art is in the eye of the beholder (judge in this case)”
I also agree.
Your description of the photo that won paints the usual picture in my mind. But I believe a winning photo should give us a whole new picture to think about.
There’s nothing artistic about taking the SAME photo so many other people have. That’s why it really gets under my skin to see photographers set up their tripods and high-end DSLRs at the same Grand Canyon viewpoints the tourists drive up to with their cell phone cameras. Generic, indeed.
I’m not saying to find a different subject — although that would be far preferable. I’m just saying that every subject can be shot an infinite number of ways. Why not find a new way?
Show us something we HAVEN’T seen before in a way that makes us wonder.
Images that do that should be the ones that win contests.
Good analogy, especially considering that Gordon Ramsay isn’t thought of as an innovative chef. He’s mainly just a celebrity who yells really loud. Truly innovative chefs are too busy running their restaurants to judge reality TV cooking shows. Likewise, truly innovative photographers are too busy working to care about contests.
To extend the analogy when Gordon Ramsaey cooks steak béarnaise it’s ghastly because it’s been done before? Hmm ? A Big Mac is not ghastly just because it’s been done before but because it’s a gastronomic abomination! Time to re think your analogy.
Big Macs are not just gastronomic abominations, they are abominations to the resources they use to deliver to Mac world. They are also abominations in several other ways, but no matter what kind of abomination you consider them, they definitely have been done many, many, many times. To rethink again and extend the analogy, perhaps the judge had a Mac attack…!!?!!?!
I think contest sponsors and organizers shouldn’t be overlooked as having influence over judges selections in photography contests. A “generic” (aka, accessible) winning image can be a very good bit of advertising for a gear manufacturer/company. Why? Because Joe photo enthusiast can suddenly imagine taking a contest winning photo with x-brand’s lens.
As for famous landmarks as photo subjects, I have crossed the Golden Gate Bridge twice every weekday for the past 15 years. I’ve taken hundreds of pictures of the bridge from as many angles as I’ve had access to, and I’ll no doubt take hundreds more. The fact that millions of tourists and weekend photo enthusiasts have taken shots of the bridge from a similar vantage doesn’t deter me in the slightest. Every day is different–the weather, the light, my mood… I guess what I’m saying is that calling something “generic” reflects a bias of one’s experience and expectations. Disregarding my first paragraph, it’s quite possible the Mesa Arch photo was, in fact, the best of the lot. Who knows. All I know is I’ll continue to take bridge shots when mood strikes.
Guy, unfortunately I am not familiar with the winning image. I totally agree with you concernig your composer/performer-thoughts, but nevertheless is it Mesa Arch’s fault to be so well known? Does this wonderful arch deserve to be overlooked by photographers (or judges) just because it was done over and over again? I would definitely answer this question with a “NO”.
Besides that we might be running out of winning images one day if we just consider locations that have not been done at all yet. I always try to find new compositions myself, even at the most popular icons, since I definitely think that this is still possible at many many places. But as I said before: I am not familiar with this particular winning image, therefore I am not sure if this applies in this case or not?
All the best,
Isa