Fine Arts I Challenge: Juried Results

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.4D IF

03/15/2010 04:49:16 PM · #52

I'm honored to receive the Blue. I am also delighted to share it with

xion. His image was one of my top picks for the blue:

I would like to thank the judges for conceiving this challenge and then doing all the hard work of judging. It has been very worthwhile.

~~Dan

pawdrix

Nikon D700

03/15/2010 04:49:33 PM · #53

For the record, I was not on the Jury because the folks that were, are the precise people that I look towards, to show me the light. Cheers and many thanks to you all for what I know was a good deal of very hard work! Again....to you.

Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D

03/15/2010 05:02:53 PM · #54

Thanks for the hard work by the jurors! Thanks for the great entries by contestants!

Personally I picked maybe half of the 25 images as being ones I appreciated and half I did not. At the end of the day it seems to me that this genre of photography has its own rules the same as any other. After thinking for a while I rebel against the term "fine art" which seems to connotate some higher plane or superiorority when one could just as easily call it "less accessible art" (and even that conjures up the idea that accessible is synonymous with banal).

Anyway, I'm not trying to throw rocks at the artform. It's definitely art and it definitely speaks to some people. I guess I'm trying to avoid the implied lesson that we should all strive to grow into this genre because this is, after all, fine art. I think, instead, it's just "different art".

(This post in no way reflects unhappiness that my own image wasn't selected. I'm not upset about that in the least and would have been very surprised (pleasantly, of course) if it had.)

As another PS, I definitely think juried challenges are fun and worthy of continuing!

Message edited by author 2010-03-15 17:03:20.

Louis

Nikon D800

03/15/2010 05:06:04 PM · #55

I think "fine art" is so called only to differentiate it from "landscape", "portrait", etc., as fine art photos can encapsulate those genres, while photos in those genres are not necessarily fine art. I don't think any hoity is implied -- least of all toidy.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

03/15/2010 05:10:38 PM · #56

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

I guess I'm trying to avoid the implied lesson that we should all strive to grow into this genre because this is, after all, fine art. I think, instead, it's just "different art".

I don't think that's the implied lesson at all, and I know for a fact it's not what pawdrix and others of us who pushed this challenge were after. No, if we were framing an "implied lesson" at all, it would be a lesson about people opening their senses to aesthetics other than the ones with which they are most familiar.

We think that's starting to happen :-)

R.

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

03/15/2010 05:16:21 PM · #57

Congrats to the winners of both the popular votes and the juried selections! I like quite a few of the entries, but most were not my ~~cup of tea~~ mug of beer. Cheers to the winners and the judges!

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

03/15/2010 05:27:47 PM · #58

I am really not trying to be a stick in the mud and I hear both Bear and Louis. I'm happy the challenge occurred.

You guys just need to stay in your little underground box and not disturb the paying clients! ;)

Judi

Canon EOS-5D Mark III

03/15/2010 05:28:32 PM · #59

Oh wow....thanks for the HM...and a huge congrats to the winners....and to the judges for a difficult job.

tnun

Ricoh GR III

Pentax DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6ED AL [IF] WR DC

03/15/2010 06:10:53 PM · #60

I think we should have a special juried - jurors chosen by the titlist - competition, in the style of

DrAchoo. I probably won't enter - it would take me at least six months to think of something clever enough, and another 12 to perfect the technique to execute it.

No, I do not have an inferiorority complex.

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/15/2010 06:13:48 PM · #61

Originally posted by tnun:

I think we should have a special juried - jurors chosen by the titlist - competition, in the style of DrAchoo. I probably won't enter - it would take me at least six months to think of something clever enough, and another 12 to perfect the technique to execute it.

No, I do not have an inferiorority complex.

You'll be picketed by ASPCA if you try to do that.

pixelpig

Sony Alpha a55

Sony DT 1.8/50mm SAM

03/15/2010 06:26:37 PM · #62

First thanks are due to the Jury who juried this challenge, they put a lot into this, & it seems we all got a lot out of it. I am honored by my Honorable Mention--thank you!

Unlike

drAchoo & others I do not rebel against Fine Art. For me, fine art photography refers to photographs that are created to fulfill the creative vision of the artist, in contrast to photojournalism and commercial photography, for example, where gratifying the creative vision of the artist is not the primary concern. It's just another category.

Message edited by author 2010-03-15 18:37:00.

hihosilver

Nikon D200

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

03/15/2010 06:31:46 PM · #63

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

I guess I'm trying to avoid the implied lesson that we should all strive to grow into this genre because this is, after all, fine art. I think, instead, it's just "different art".

This post confused me (which is easy to do). So, Jason, I'm looking to you to set me straight. The only lesson I learned from enjoying the work presented in this challenge is to alert my awareness and wake up to explore, examine, and experience the images being offered up here. In a sense, an infusion of energy took place because I had to pay attention more than I usually do in my mundane world of automated responses and voting existence. Is the lesson here about "fine art" or rather more about an expansion of awareness and heightened sensibilities to perspectives other than my own? I'm not smart enough to know if these images are "fine" art, "different" art, or a kind of genre to "grow" in.

All I know is that I enjoyed these images tremendously because they made me think and above all things...

Pay Attention.

...including your own image.

03/15/2010 06:34:36 PM · #64

Originally posted by hihosilver:

The only lesson I learned from enjoying the work presented in this challenge is to alert my awareness and wake up to explore, examine, and experience the images being offered up here. In a sense, an infusion of energy took place because I had to pay attention more than I usually do in my mundane world of automated responses and voting existence. Is the lesson here about "fine art" or rather more about an expansion of awareness and heightened sensibilities to perspectives other than my own? I'm not smart enough to know if these images are "fine" art, "different" art, or a kind of genre to "grow" in.

All I know is that I enjoyed these images tremendously because they made me think and above all things...

Pay Attention.

...including your own image.

Freakin' Bra-vo!

Well put, m'lady!

tehben

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

03/15/2010 07:09:03 PM · #65

Originally posted by posthumous:

And the Juried Awards and Honorable Mentions for the Fine Arts Challenge: Exhibit 1 are:
Third Place:

â��Hand Paintedâ�� â�� tehben

(Posted on behalf of Ursula, ZeusZen, Posthumous, RKT, and Bear_Music)

WOW! I don't know what to say, but thank you :D
It was a fun image to shoot and PP!

A big thanks to all the jurors for taking the time and trouble to do this!

Congratulations to

wheeledd &

xion for shared first place and to all of the honorable mentions!

and thanks to everyone who commented during the challenge :)

posthumous

Canon EOS-40D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

03/15/2010 07:11:22 PM · #66

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

I guess I'm trying to avoid the implied lesson that we should all strive to grow into this genre because this is, after all, fine art.

The implied lesson is the same as it for every challenge: maybe you will learn something if you participate.

p.s. I myself distrust the term "fine art." There is only art, and it's not a category, it's a way of being and doing, it's culture and it's subversion of culture, it's... a long conversation.

03/15/2010 07:16:54 PM · #67

Originally posted by hihosilver:

Originally posted by DrAchoo:
I guess I'm trying to avoid the implied lesson that we should all strive to grow into this genre because this is, after all, fine art. I think, instead, it's just "different art".

This post confused me (which is easy to do). So, Jason, I'm looking to you to set me straight. The only lesson I learned from enjoying the work presented in this challenge is to alert my awareness and wake up to explore, examine, and experience the images being offered up here. In a sense, an infusion of energy took place because I had to pay attention more than I usually do in my mundane world of automated responses and voting existence. Is the lesson here about "fine art" or rather more about an expansion of awareness and heightened sensibilities to perspectives other than my own? I'm not smart enough to know if these images are "fine" art, "different" art, or a kind of genre to "grow" in.

All I know is that I enjoyed these images tremendously because they made me think and above all things...

Pay Attention.

...including your own image.

This is all good stuff Mae. I'm probably just inserting my foot in my mouth as usual.

Here are some questions that go through my mind when I think about this genre of work. Could one learn to be an accomplished artist in this genre or is it all instinctual? Do people mainly stumble upon a picture they like then add meaning to later (especially abstract stuff) or do people mainly set out to capture some quality before they start shooting? If so, how do they accomplish this? Is fine art like fine wine? While there are varied opinions, experts will generally agree on the same vintages as being exceptional compared to others?

I obviously don't run with the crowd that appreciates this form over others. Sometimes I feel like I'm on the outside looking in through the window. The natural questions get asked, "Am I missing some fun in there? or are the people just the same but prefer a different cup of tea?"

I should probably add with each and every post that I'm not trying to denigrate the genre. I'm just asking questions about it.

Message edited by author 2010-03-15 19:18:23.

rooum

03/15/2010 07:18:45 PM · #68

Thanks to all the judges on this. It was a fantastic idea and a really great experience to enter myself and also to see everyone else's images. Cheers to you all for the huge inspiration!

I'm also very pleased that my pick for the Blue coincided with the judges and so many of my top ten was chosen as well. It's nice to know that i have such obvious exemplary fine artistic taste! :)

My own entry, that was quite middling in its rating, is also getting me very excited at the moment due to the comments on it and how they have changed my ideas about it. What i thought was quite a bleak, desolate image was interpreted by some as being very playful and fun and has spun me off into other areas. So, i think i'll take my little inchworm (well, not so much the inchworm as thats been done, but the abstract feel and method) and extend the style into a whole narrative as a children's book for my very soon to be born daughter (very soon, like, in about 3 weeks). Lovely how these things happen! :) I do love DPC sometimes! :)

Pentax DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6ED AL [IF] WR DC

03/15/2010 07:32:48 PM · #69

Would there be any interest in starting a thread where we could talk about where we came from with our entries? I know I'd certainly be interested in hearing what went through others' minds while putting something together for this challenge.

rooum

03/15/2010 07:34:19 PM · #70

Originally posted by DrAchoo:

Do people mainly stumble upon a picture they like then add meaning to later (especially abstract stuff)

I think i've posted my thoughts on this before, and particularly with regards to my last post it raises very interesting questions, but i really do feel that the most important thing with art is what the viewer gets out of it not necessarily what the artist was originally trying to convey. I think my case i've just posted about is quite a rare example of a huge discrepancy in what was attempted to show and what was perceived. I guess, as a piece of art, it could be seen as a total failure then but i'd like to not see it that way (obviously! :). But i do think that the 'artist' is in no way in absolute control of what he produces and how it is perceived and nor should they be. As soon as it is finished it has nothing to do them.

E.T.A : Thats not very coherent is it? I think i'll have a think and try and get my point across a bit better.

Message edited by author 2010-03-15 19:44:23.

tnun

Ricoh GR III

03/15/2010 07:48:54 PM · #71

clive_patric_nolan speaks to the distinction between conscious intent and the independent existence of the artifact. In its way it is a terrifying distinction.

I should not keep trying to get Jason's goat. Sorry.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

03/15/2010 07:56:24 PM · #72

Originally posted by tnun:

Hehe. You trying to get me in trouble? :) I definitely hear clive and where he's coming from, but would say I come from a very different school of thought. To me the artist is in full control of their message. If the viewer didn't get the message you intended, then at best it's serendipity and at worst it indicates you failed. I would be especially distraught if someone took away a message antithetical to who I am. I wouldn't be happy about that at all even if it evoked a strong positive response.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

03/15/2010 08:03:35 PM · #73

Originally posted by NikonJeb:

I think that would be quite educational.

03/15/2010 08:13:50 PM · #74

Originally posted by tnun:

clive_patric_nolan speaks to the distinction between conscious intent and the independent existence of the artifact. In its way it is a terrifying distinction.

That distinction has always puzzled and amused me. When someone sees something of mine and does the "Oh, WOW!!! That's REALLY something!" I'm flattered, sure, but I also want to know why this person thinks that they can be in love with it like I am when I'm the only one who knows the real story behind the image's creation.