Last weekend two photographer that I follow and are inspired
by had nasty posts from people on photographs on their Facebook Pages. Both of these amazing talented woman do their
very best to help photographers grow.
They never stop remembering what it is like to be a new
photographer. As each struggled with
their own reactions to this situation I thought what a good topic for our
Friday Blog post.
Clearly at some point in your career you are going to run
into negative people who either don’t get your artistic statement or they
aren't going to get your vision.
How do
you handle it gracefully so that you can pull any real feedback you can use but
push away anything that has no merit? In
class you will get reviews that you don’t like be it from teachers or
students. It will make you want to
scream your head off if you worked really hard at the assignment but ultimately
you learn and grow from those critiques.
Once you leave school it is good to know you will at times still face unwarranted negative feedback. How you handle it can cause you to lose
clients or it can make you into a champion where your followers relate to your
struggles as an artist. Here are two
things to keep in mind when you want to lash out and make a comment you might
regret later
Understand where the comments are coming from
Is this another photographer who is jealous
of your success? Did you critique their
work and they didn’t take it well. Try
to look at the person who is commenting.
Is this someone who is trying to provide you feedback so you can grow? If you respect the person try to see the
comments and their view point before you respond.
Did you post an image that you could see
could cause a negative comment?
Your image isn't wrong. I know that
sometimes I still post an image that I can see is going to cause a discussion about
my intent. If you wrap a baby in a scarf
that looks like a flag, it is going to cause someone to comment and a huge
discussion or argument will probably happen. Does it make that image less
powerful especially if the father is a serviceman? No, but it does leave you
open to be critiqued. In a situation
where I know an image is going to cause comment I am the first to comment on
the situation behind it. In the case of
one of these two photographers posted an image of five 8 year olds who dressed
themselves. The image is amazing and endearing.
She felt there was nothing in this image to cause
an argument or mean comments. Some of
the clothing choices the girls made were more risqué. It cause the nasty discussion on her image. She finally removed the image and was upset
but came back with a strong inspiring blog post that I will share a link to.
Your vision is your vision and it isn't right or wrong. You
don’t have to defend your image if you don’t want to. However it will help
people who are having a hard time understanding your image if you take the time
to stay calm and explain what you see when you look at the image. We all have our own frame of reference and
sometimes we have blinders on until someone helps us to see art in a different
way.
As I mentioned one of the photographers, Meg Bitton took her
anger and wrote a truly amazing and uplifting Blog post about where inspiration
comes from. She told her followers that
she removed her image and wouldn't spend any more time deleting insensitive
comments about the image. She wasn't just concerned about her image but the fact the young girls might see the negative comments about their innocent picture. She then posted the blog post.
There may never be a perfect way to handle a situation where
someone attacks your image but I hope that I have enough grace to handle it
like Meg. Please read her blog when you
have time. It will make you remember why you became a photographer in the first
place and understand this is a gracious way to handle an attack on your art!
Happy Reading! I look forward to your input on this topic.
Jessi
Work Cited
Bitton, Meg.
"Thoughts." Meg
Bitton -. N.p., 23 Mar. 2015. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. <http://www.megbitton.com/thoughts/>.
Thank you so much this was so helpful.
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