| Marti Belcher | ||
marti@martibelcher.com 703-938-4515 |
 |
|
ROLE OF THE JUDGE
No one likes to be judged, especially artists. The judging process is always subjective and stressful. A person who decides to critique another’s creative work has taken on a serious exercise.
A competent judge learns to leave his or her prejudices at home, while also bringing a fresh point to view to the judging of the competition.
Photography does not live in a vacuum. Often we will see a photograph that harkens back to an Edward Hopper oil or a Jan Vermeer canvas. A good judge has knowledge of other visual art forms and uses that knowledge to upgrade the relevance of the images presented at camera clubs. We fight the battle to have photography accepted as an equal art form along side of oil painting, sculpture, etc. It is for photographers and judges to work together to produce stronger photography art.
CRITERIA FOR JUDGING
Presentation and quality of the print is what strikes me first when I am critiquing a photograph. Good technical, matting and printing skills start the process. Never under estimate the WOW factor to a judge or to the audience. What is true, WOW is wonderful but a good photographer automatically presents a good print, matted properly. It is important for new members in the Novice categories to see that this standard is established from the beginning.
Design and composition are in the eyes of the beholder. Design has to do with balance, color & placement but sometimes imbalance is the goal of the photographer for good reason. To make the viewer uncomfortable is courageous and valuable. Dorothea Lange’s ground breaking work of the 1930’s comes to mind as photography that raised the bar and was empowering: ordinary people facing adversity with dignity.
A half of a person on the edge of the print is usually deemed not appropriate, but sometimes it can tell us more than a perfectly bordered image. I have seen too many pictures eliminated on these grounds because of some old rule set by somebody who knew how things were suppose to be. Henri Cartier-Bresson wouldn’t win a blue ribbon with one of these judges. I do believe we need to be a bit more avant-garde with our judging in camera clubs.
Last but not least, I love to see a photographer do something different and risky. As a judge I want to see something I haven’t seen before. A judge doesn’t have to like it but she/he needs to respect a new point of view.
Any time you take a photography workshop with any of the great photographers they will stress: get out of your box; stretch yourself; take risks; make mistakes; and be uncomfortable.
That is the source of growth for all of us.