THE ROLE OF A JUDGE

Webster: definition of a judge - “one who gives an authoritative opinion.”

A judge in a camera club competition is indeed one who should give an authoritative opinion on the images presented. These opinions should be expressed so that the audience as well as the competitor can learn something – or at a minimum, verify parts of their own knowledge. The primary (albeit underlying) role of a good judge is to instruct. The most visible part of the judge’s role is the selection of images in accordance with camera club rules and her/his own values.

A judge should have the following abilities:
o The capacity to suppress her/his personal biases in art and photography.
o Superior verbal skills.
o Compassion absent of any real or perceived condescension when making critical comments.
o The ability to recognize subtle nuances in images and identify those nuances as a positive or a negative.
o A knack for injecting appropriate humor into tense judging scenarios (i.e., final selection process for the “keepers).
o An excellent grasp of the mechanics of photography as well as the subtleties of composition and message.

A judge with the above qualifications should be able to communicate successfully new concepts to novice and advanced photographer alike, as well as authoritatively selecting “pick of the litter” images from any body of work.