To Critique, or not to Critique... and Episode 67 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres

Way back in the far mists of time, when Lockdown was a new concept and I was toying with the idea of doing some kind of video podcast on photography, I put up a post on Social Media asking what people would like to see.

One suggestion was I do Critique on submitted images.

I instantly dismissed the idea. "In my experience, people don't want Critique," I replied. "When someone asks your opinion about their photo they are invariably wanting praise and get a bit miffed if you actually tell them how to improve it."

However, like so many of my knee-jerk reactions, once I'd got past my initial prejudices and allowed the idea to sink in, I changed my mind. This was something I could offer – a way to genuinely help people advance their skills and understanding of photography.

And thus, Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres was born, with an emphasis on viewers submitting questions and images for Critique.

Several months later I introduced Challenges into the programme mix. Once a month or so I would pick a theme, talk about some of the tips, tricks and techniques of approaching it, and give over an entire episode to people's submissions.

It's proved to be more popular than the regular podcasts, and way more viewers put in images for the Challenges than Critique. In fact I've noticed there are even some people who seem to submit images for the Challenges who I suspect don't even watch the podcasts.

All of which reinforces an idea that most of us would far rather show off our work for praise than for genuine feedback.

Of course, while praise feels lovely, it doesn't help us advance our photography. For the most part, we learn from what we get wrong, not what we get right.

Because I get way more submissions for Challenges, there isn't time to Critique them all, and apart from one or two people, no one asks for it.

And herein lies the dilemma – knowing people can get upset if their images are criticised (however constructively) if they were only putting them up for praise, I've tried to make a point of only offering Critique to submissions that have specifically asked for it.

So what am I to do when I can clearly see ways to improve an image that's been submitted for a Challenge, but Critique hasn't been asked for?

I could just point out a positive aspect of the photo (that horizon is really straight – well done!) and move on, but I then feel the person is going to end up with a false sense of how good the image actually is.

There's an additional problem in that Critique takes longer than praise, so what might have been a one hour podcast can quickly become 2½, with all the resultant drain on my energy, and the extra time taken to edit, render, and upload the video to YouTube the following day.

Convenience, and avoiding having to deal with people's insecurities, make it extremely tempting to just set Challenges, dish out praise and Smug Points, and ensure that a jolly time is had by all.

But who's going to learn anything?

There's a reason I called the podcast "Understanding Photography" - it's a place to learn. So if I just skip past an opportunity to help someone improve, then I am actually betraying the principles behind why I set up the podcast in the first place.

I think I just have to come at it with a mindset that anything anyone submits to any of my podcasts has to be fair game for constructive criticism - and I have to try not to feel like I'm kicking a puppy if I critique an image someone was clearly quite proud of when they put it in for a Challenge.

However, given I really can't commit to 2½+ hour podcasts, if I get more submissions to Challenges than I can reasonably fit it to a session, I'm going to have to start some kind of selection procedure.

And that would be a whole new can of worms to deal with...

Meanwhile, watch episode 67 below, to enjoy 20 or so different interpretations and approaches to the challenge of "texture"...

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0:00 - Welcome, what's coming up, greetings and comments
05:30 - Reviewing images on the theme "Texture" submitted to the Facebook Group, "Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres"
1:55:57 - Making the most of having a professional photographer at your disposal to learn from
1:58:50 - End

If you found this interesting/useful/entertaining, then please consider supporting these podcasts and blog posts via buymeacoffee.com/kimayres

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to be notified of new podcasts and behind-the-scenes videos.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then do join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/