What is a critique?

One of the greatest aspects of going to art school, but also one of the most intimidating, is the critique. I've experienced my fair share of both good and bad critiques in the last four years. While I used to dread "judgment day," critiques have come to be something I look forward to. This may be because I'm much more confident in the art that I'm making now, but also because I am more versed in critique etiquette than I was when I first arrived here. In the introduction to, The Critique Handbook, the author stresses the importance of distancing yourself enough from your work to be able to constructively dissect what is working and what isn't working. I couldn't agree more. A critique is more of a time to listen to how others respond to your work rather than to defend a singular viewpoint. I also liked how the author called it a "freeze frame in studio practice." Now that I'm working on my own artistic voice rather than short technical assignments, critiques are by no means the end. Usually critiques are progress reports that allow you to figure out how to move forward to make your work stronger.

Having the right dynamic is essential to a good critique. Personally, I favor more intimate critique settings because they can operate like conversations. With fewer people, a give and take can happen between the artist and viewers more so than a bigger group where it's easier to get off topic. I'm able to be more active and ask questions I want answered rather than reactive to what's being said. I can also ask why a viewer drew a particular conclusion. Too many people with too many interpretations can become overwhelming and I feel less in control. While I value the feedback from others, at the end of the critique you only get out as much as you put into it yourself. Coming unprepared, timid or closed minded won't help you better your work no matter how good the group critiquing it is.

Second Shoot

Last week one of my very good friends came into the lighting studio for a session. She was my very first model sophomore year here at Tyler so it was great to get her in the studio this time for a professional shoot. I've come a long way since the days of Digital Imaging and it's fun to share that growth with my friends who have been along for the ride.

headshots galore!

For my lighting class this week we had to whip out the equipment, grab a model, and recreate some of the techniques we learned in class. I invited my roommates into the studio for a personal project so I used them to fulfill my assignment as well. Most of them have never seen me in my photo element so it was fun for them to contextualize where I spend most of my time and it was fun for me to get them in front of my lens. Here are some of my favorites..

reading #2 interpreting photographs

Images dominate today's world, each trying to influence the viewer in some way whether it's to buy a certain type of cereal, donate to an animal shelter or think critically about social inequalities. While making successful imagery has been a major focus at Tyler, there has been equal emphasis on learning how to discuss and interpret the images being made. As viewers, we have a responsibility to be active participants rather than just absorb what we see. 

In Terry Barrett’s book, Criticizing Photographs, he goes through the ways in which a photograph should be dissected. While I found most of his points obvious, I wonder if the average person would feel the same way. There’s such a stigma with art today that people not connected in the art world don’t “get” modern art. Barrett argues that there is nothing to “get”; there are no black and white interpretations for an image. Instead of a true/false scale, Barrett refers to interpretations being plausible vs. implausible. As viewers, we all bring our own baggage to the table in terms of beliefs, knowledge and experiences. Barrett explains there is no such thing as an “innocent eye” because all of these biases affect how we view an image. Every reading of an image has merit as long as there is evidence to back the viewer’s claims, no matter what biases we adhere to it.

This means of interpreting images places the burden on the viewer rather than the photographer. Although it’s certainly not true in every case, I find that in my own work a lot happens subconsciously. Minor White put it quite well when he said, “photographers frequently photograph better than they know.” There have been countless times in critiques where classmates or professors have caught something in an image that the photographer didn’t even realize they had done. One body of work that I’ve been making in the last year I was so drawn to creating but couldn’t understand what I was trying to say with my images. It wasn’t until critiquing my work up on the wall that I began to understand more about my own work and it has since helped me build on those images. Interpreting is a collective endeavor and not reliant on a single person whether it be photographer or viewer. Having a strong community of photographers to discuss photographs will be one of the things I will miss the most once I graduate.

Reading #1

In Linda Weintraub’s article, In The Making, she discusses the freedoms artists have when making art in today’s society, but also the responsibilities that come with those freedoms. She lists six points that artists face including: scoping an audience, sourcing inspiration, crafting an artistic self, expressing an artistic attitude, choosing a mission and measuring success. She stresses that all of these components of artistic freedom are unique to the contemporary art world we live in and attributes those freedoms to the demise of the medieval guild system and powerful institutions.

I found most of what Weintraub discussed to be interesting especially after the Post-Modern art history class that I took last semester. In that class we gave credit to Marcel Duchamp for some of the artistic freedoms Weintraub discusses but I think she makes a valid argument of it beginning with the end of guilds and institutions like those found in Italy and France. Duchamp may not have made the impact he did if those institutions were still in place because of the monopolies they held, but his ready-mades definitely stretched the conversation of what is art, who can make art and what is the value of art.

The part of the article that I was the most drawn to was what she had to say about sourcing inspiration. She notes that “inspire is associated with the originating breath that infuses an organism with an energy that is so distinct from mundane experience.” That particular quote really struck me. As an artist, I know that I experience this when looking at other art, reading certain literature or after an event that has sparked an emotional response inside myself. As I continue to make art and figure out what my senior thesis show will look like I keep coming back to inspiration. What am I interested in? What will I work on this semester? WHY am I making the photographs that I’m making? I want to be hit with the energy that Weintraub talks about because I feel like something so distinct is what allows really great work to be made.