We are desensitized

[david brown]

G'Day people,

 

I have been thinking about this question for some time now and thought I would

run it up the flag pole and see where it goes.

Lately I have seen so many posts about no ratings, bad ratings bla bla bla bla

bla bla bla!

I was so sick of seeing them I posted a joke one saying the same thing with a

just kidding as the question.

Not well received either but who gives a ....

 

I personally think that this has been occuring due to desensitization.

Not the posts but the lack of crits, comments, rates bla bla bla bla bla.

 

My thinking is that as people if we see too much of something it then becomes

normal, agreed. Apply this to this terrific site and over time we will look

less, crit less, and even rate less. Multiply this by the number of people on

this site and you will eventually see a down turn in activity, possibly

excluding uploads.

 

This desensitization has been occuring sinse time started, some examples for me

are,

 

When my father was young there was a stage show that had naked woemen standing

motionless on stage, this was art! Don't laugh it is true, if they moved they

were arrested or could have been for a lude act. Now if they don't move there

is a riot, and they had better have waxed!

 

In the 60's A Clock Work Orange was rated R, now it would probably be PG, in

Aus if you have a gun in public everyone freaks and runs, in the US most would

say hmm nice peice. Look at enough nudes and you can't see art from porn and on

it goes.

Now I have been told that over 1000 images are uploaded every day here, what

bettr way to get desensitized and loose interest in having a say because unless

it shocks or grabs you and shakes you it will blend into obscurity.

 

What say you good folk?

[seismiccwave]

I still like to browse through the images and see what is loaded. Some are very nice and most

are average. Some nice ones will get me to leave a comment. I should comment on some not

so nice ones but sometimes I don't know what to say without being offensive.

[tonmestrom]

Then a valid question would be what are you doing here at all?

Actually it's true. We are being inundated with images, not just on PN but all around. I stated earlier on that a lot of the technical improvements like autofocus, matrix metering and so on have helped a lot of people to get better results i.e. well exposed and sharp photo's. That doesn't necesarilly mean that they are good photo's but in general I think it's good when people will get better results and have more fun doing it as a result. That is especially true since digital has arrived. There's nothing like immediate feedback to improve oneself and that has certainly be the case for Joe & Jill Average. Like I said, I think that is a good thing.

 

But what I also feel to be true is that this has played a major role in the valuing of real good photography. Jill & Joe think they can do it all as well especially when they can play a bit around with imaging software.

 

Photography has never been a black art and shouldn't be looked upon as such. But real craftsmanship and applying it to make a outstanding photograph as a result of that is not so easily recognised anymore by a lot of people. But as far as I can see there is a lot of extremely good work around.

 

On PN a lot of work is ridicously overrated. I think this has a lot to do with it:

 

"but sometimes I don't know what to say without being offensive"

 

While I can understand that and to a certain point even appreciate it I think it should be looked upon in a slightly different way.

 

If you post here you hope to receive a lot of comments. If someone points out that they don't like what you did and give you a reason why they feel that way one can hardly complain. I think it's far more insulting to tell people that they've made a great photo if that in fact is not the case. I also think a lot of that is going around here.

 

I choose to tell people what I really think. Maybe I'm more wrong than right but what they can rely on is that it's my honest opinion.

I've done that now for about three months (since I started here) and found that most people appreciate that. I can only hope that people won't hesitate to tell me what they think as honestly as they can.

 

I read a comment from someone a few weeks ago about most people here not seeking critique but just praise. Although that may be a bit cynical I refuse to believe that is true of most.

If you really want an expert opinion on your work maybe you should seek it elsewhere and not on PN but the fact remains that there are people here who are quit capable of giving a substantiated and sometimes even erudite critique. I got in contact with some of those.

 

Lastly I think there is a lot of very good and even brilliant photographers to be found here. It doesn't take that much trouble to find them.

[tonmestrom]

Forgot something. Actually I've met some people who are honest enough to tell me if I've done a bad job and that's to my gain. Also people shouldn't get so upset about "critiques" here. I've had far worse. While studying at an acadamy we had some great teachers but they could give critiques like I haven't seen here yet as a result of which I've seen adult photographers with tears in their eyes. You may not believe this but it's true. But they were not only almost always right but it was done with the intent of challenging us and stand up to our work and in general to make us better.

 

So don't get to upset if someone give you a harsh comment

[peter_daalder]

<i>I've seen adult photographers with tears in their eyes. You may not believe this but it's

true.</i><p>Though I wasn't one of those with tears in my eyes; I support Ton's

sentiments in his second post above.<p>In a previous life (or so it seems), I was

employed as a film processor at the Eastman Kodak company in Rijswijk, near The Hague,

Holland.<br>Around the same time (1980), I enrolled in a night-time photography course

at the School of Photography in The Hague (known today as the <a

href="http://www.kabk.nl/index/-/nl">Royal Academy of Art </a>)<p>As much as I

enjoyed the course, especially the studio work with the 4x5" field cameras, it wasn't long

before one of my teachers told me that I obviously wasn't very imaginative/creative, whilst

shooting for our (homework) assignments. It may have been said <i>with the intent of

challenging me and to stand up to my work and, in general, to make me better.</i><p>I

might have stuck with the course, but it didn't matter, as my two-year contract position

with Kodak came to an end and I left The Hague.<br>It was probably meant to be, as a

couple of years later, I had moved to Australia.<p>When I discovered photo.net in 2002, I

got sucked into this phenomenal site boots and all. Back then, I was sometimes <a

href="http://www.photo.net/shared/whos-online"> online </a> for as much as 4-5 hours

each day. There is much to read, absorb, learn from and also (of course) to look at, on this

site.<br>Browsing through the PN Gallery alone, can easily be a full time activity. Writing

comments will take even more time and effort. I'm sure that everyone has their own limits,

as to how long they spend their time on this site. Eventually though, I think we can end up

a little like the great medium that many still work with - film. Expose it long enough and

the emulsion becomes susceptible to <a

href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocity_(photography)"> reciprocity failure.

</a><br>And so, as David originally put it, we (perhaps) become desensitized... Be it due

to time constraints, or other reasons - such as native language, not everyone is always

able to quickly and easily write critiques/comments, which is why the anonymous ratings

interface will remain very popular, in my opinion.<p>This can be a great place to spend

your time. If the imagery is not your cup of tea, you can always just come here for the

forums...

[summitar]

David, I think you were referring to the Windmill night club in London. Never attended, but I have read about it. I believe they excused one of the performers who moved to make an obscene gesture during the blitz.

[mendel_leisk]

There's a movie about that: "Mrs. Henderson Presents".

[oxide blu]

How dare someone move to make an obscene gesture during the blitz! :)

[bobatkins]

"..I care very little for most imgaes here. 95% is dros. 4.9% isn't my cuppa tea. And the 0.1% that I may like... I can't find it among the buckets of dros..."

 

That's a confirmation of Sturgeon's Law (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon's_law), which basically states that 95% (or 90%, pick your own number here) is carp. It applies to TV shows, movies, music, books, cars and so on. It should be no surprise that under 10% of the images posted here qualify as "good".

 

If everything looks good, your standards are too low. You've probably been brainwashed by watching too much TV where just about everyone is either a "star" or an "expert".

[mrstubbs]

Well...i'm just happy for a place to "get a look in".

 

I can't say I get bored looking and browsing p.net...but like everything else in a life...a balance is good.

 

What I do like about this place is the many ways the same thing can be said...it gives us all a chance to learn something new...if we're willing.

 

A claim of "desensitised" about the images could simply be a justification for being closed minded....or lazy.

[david brown]

I think my thought process has been misinterpreted, esspecially by you Anthony and RML.

So I'll just run it down the flag pole and put it away.

[JDMvW]

I have seen the law also referred to Abe Maslow and others, the OED citation, notwithstanding. Note in that reference the inability to actually find the law in the place where it was cited-it is instead referred to a "speech in 1951".

This should raise a red flag as such cases often turn out to be a sort of myth.

 

 

Regardless of the actual origin, the law applies with inexorable force, having been proved again by the rapid expansion of 'news' and 'fact' on the internet.

[nedrick]

I have to admit i do very little photo watching on here. Though i should probably view/critique/rate more pics. I enjoy more all the vast amount of resources and expertise on the site and spend most of my time reading articles and forum postings.

[david brown]

JDM, what are you saying, it makes no sense to me at all?

[LindaM]

there is much less activity here than there used to be. when i joined 2 years ago, the top

rated photos for 3 days numbered around 2400. a few minutes ago they numbered 205. i am

guessing that the reason is competition from other sites. i participate in another site as well,

but don't find it nearly as satisfying as this one. this site keeps getting better, but i do wish it

hadn't lost so many interesting photographers. i agree with Ton and Peter. i would prefer

honest critique to just pats on the back. sure i like to get high rates and positive feedback,

but the only way i can improve is if someone tells me where i need work i don't always see

my work as honestly as someone else.

[nedrick]

Are there other sites like photo.net?

[nedrick]

Are there other sites like photo.net?

[LindaM]

there are other sites where you can post your work, but i haven't seen another that has the

same depth of critique and discussion

[nedrick]

whoops double post. I do enjoy the amount of discussion and professionalism found here on p.net. Its always good to hear for the more experianced members on the site.

 

I personally spend more time in the discussion areas soaking up all the info and advice i can find. And i ussually look at the pictures of the peole i run into in the discussions. So i can see if they actually know what they are talking about or they are full of crap. If a person has good pictures, i am more inclined to listen to what they are saying.