Feelings, Nothing More than Feelings : A Visceral Approach to Judging Fine Art Photography

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1 Feelings, Nothing More than Feelings : A Visceral Approach to Judging Fine Art Photography by Tom Cooper Member (Educator), Professional Photographers of Canada tom.cooper@shaw.ca, If I thought I was confused after my first CAPA (Canadian Association for Photographic Art) weekend workshop on how to judge fine art photography, imagine how I felt when, two or three years later, I re-took it as a refresher and still didn't understand how one goes about judging something as unique as a piece of photo art and then assign it a score from 1 to 10 (most fellow judges started scoring at 5 and worked their way up). You might as well have asked me to put a dollar value to a Picasso, a Monet, a Vermeer and a Wharhol. What criteria could I use to rank images that would make sense, be easy to apply, be fair, be repeatable and give credit to the effort and intent of the artist? The premise of this system of judging is the ability to answer two simple questions about, 1. What the artist crafted into the image in the first place (what they brought to you to be judged) and then, 2. What you (the judge) take away. How do you (again, the judge) define the viewing experience? Photographic art for judging purposes can be divided into eight general categories (with an added 1 or 2 points being awarded for the WOW factor of each shot at the discretion of the judge). In order of ranking from the lowest scoring to the hightest scoring they are: 1. The Snapshot (1 to 3 points) 2. The Documenting Photograph (2 to 4 points) 3. The Personalized Photograph (3 to 5 points) 4. The Photographic Study (4 to 6 points) 5. The Application Composition (5 to 7 points) 6. Photos that Evoke an Emotional Response (6 to 8 points) 7. The Sensory Extravaganza (7 to 9 points) 8. The Integrated Whole (8 to 10 points) Let's assume that all photographic art is motivated by the desire of an individual to express their views, feelings, thoughts, ideas, etc. on some subject that they're interested in. So assessing the depth of what they crafted into the shot in the first place is a great starting point. What I call What does the artist bring to the table? The next criteria on how successful they were would be the answer to the question What does the viewer experience when presented with the image? Let's look at each category in depth now to see why I've ranked them in this specific order. 1. The SNAPHOT (1 to 3 points) Question #1: What does the photographer bring to the table with Depicts an event that the viewer may or may not be able to relate to (probably not). States the obvious; states a simple fact. Records personal information only.

2 No thought to composition or to supporting photographic techniques. No invitation to respond; lacks the potential for any emotional component. No intended inherent interest necessary in the subject or the context. Boredom; Disinterest. Searching (in vain) for some component he or she can relate to. 2. The DOCUMENTING photograph (2 to 4 points) Shot depicts an event, person or place without benefit of any structured or planned composition. Message has appeal only to those individuals who have partaken in the production of the image. Viewers are not invited to react or respond in any way. The image simply states one single fact of time and place; A Happening. Colour, texture, form, etc. are derived from the subject itself and not by the photographer s treatment of the subject. They would only be accidental. Any viewer interest is generated from the event itself and not the photographic handling of this event. Little or no message results in little or no appeal to visual experience. No visceral response is asked for or expected. Imagery is often trite and banal and therefore of little interest or at best limited to an admiration of the act and not the rendering of the experience. i.e. there is no inherent photographic value only value for the event or the participants! 3. The PERSONALIZED photograph (3 to 5 points) Shot has the added element of a known individual within an environmental/scenic, etc. context. Shot usually offers us more of the essence of both the person and the place rather than overstating the obvious. Less is more. Shot usually tried to integrate the individual within his environment or within a context. Limited interest in subject matter and in context unless the context is universal or well known. Visceral response dependent upon the subject s interaction with either the viewer or the environment.

3 4. The PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDY (4 to 6 points) Photographer shows us an appreciation of or an investigation into some aspect of a subject or subjects such as: shape, form, texture, colour, reflective qualities, repetitive aspects, etc. without any attempt to contextualize the subject. Composition is secondary (at best), or perhaps not even evident, to the subject being studied. Subject is often overpoweringly predominant. Subject is often overpoweringly predominant (Yes, I know I repeated it. Read between the lines!). No thought to context. Response is academic and only related to degree of visual stimulation generated by image or technical aspects of image capture/shooting. Emotional response not necessarily generated. 5. The APPLICATION COMPOSITION (5 to 7 points) Creates visual interest (i.e. movement, flow) at the two dimensional level. No emotional response necessarily generated. No universally appealing message intended. Response only at the level of the visual. Photographer applies one or more compositional rules (framework or structure as in the Rule of Thirds) to the treatment of a subject. Shows an appreciation of how and when to apply a variety of techniques (leading lines, entry and exit points, reflective surfaces, repetition, etc.) and rules of composition that make for an interesting and creative viewing experience and that support and enhance the subject or subjects. Can be visually interesting to experience especially if subject matter is interesting.

4 6. PHOTOGRAPHS THAT EVOKE AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE (6 to 8 points) Question #1: What does the photographer bring to the table with his/her photographic image? Level of expressiveness or creativity? Level of effort? Photographer s choice of subject matter and technical handling of this subject within a context evokes an almost universal visceral response from viewers. Photographer uses a compositional framework of some sort and one or more. Viewer feels a positive emotional response to the imagery. Viewer feels a universality with the photographer s message. Viewer experiences an empathetic interest derived from the subject(s). 7. The SENSORY EXTRAVAGANZA (7 to 9 points) Question #1: What does the photographer bring to the table with his/her photographic image? Level of expressiveness or creativity? Level of effort? Photographer s (in-camera through Picture Style/Picture Controls or post-processing) manipulation and unique visual perspective to a subject produces a 2-dimensional hyper-realistic visual experience. Photographer may or may not use any recognizable compositional techniques to further enhance and support this visual experience. Inherent interest in the subject is subordinate to the sensory visual impact. Viewer feels an immediate positively enhanced visual sensory response. Viewer may feel little or no response to the subject itself but overpoweringly to the handling of the subject. Viewer experiences little or no interest in the subject itself. Viewer acknowledges the uniqueness of the photographer s perspective or the viewer acknowledges the high level of technical skill in his/her im-camera or post-production image manipulation.

5 8. The INTEGRATED WHOLE (8 to 10 points) Question #1: What does the photographer bring to the table with his/her photographic image? Level of expressiveness or creativity? Level of effort? The photographer has integrated all levels of planes from foreground to background and has underscored a compositional rule (or multiple rules) with many supporting photographic techniques to achieve a unified whole. The photographer has identified a subject that is universally appealing. The photographer has identified a message that is universally appealing. The photographer has defined a visual perspective that is creative, generates intense interest and visually stimulating. The photographer has rendered the image with post-processing that further enhances his initial image. Viewer feels a positive visceral (emotional) response. Viewer feels a universality with the photographer s message. Viewer experiences the highest level of visual interest and visual stimulation in the subject matter. Viewer experiences interest at the highest level with the compositional handling and compositional techniques incorporated into the image. Viewer appreciates the degree of camera expertise to render this image through the medium of a digital camera. Viewer appreciates the degree of technical expertise at the post-processing level to create this image. Viewer appreciates the high level of creativity in having the vision to have imagined this perspective for this subject. The Viewer experiences the extreme degree of integration of the 2-dimensional visual sensory experience with the visceral/emotional one into a unified whole by T. W. Cooper All images and blog content are the property of the author. All rights reserved.