Existential Angst

Lovely tonal work and nice body position. I like the way the graphics of the floor works into it as well, and the tattoos are well rendered and effectively add expression. Her facial expression feels somewhat forced and doesn't seem to quite work, since it feels as much a grand smile as a scream of angst. The title tries to lead us in places where the photo just doesn't seem to go, so it's a bit of a distraction, but the photo, I think would benefit from a more committed expression going along with pose from your model.

I like the expression. I won't ask what you showed her to get this result. Whether an expression looks real or not depends if you can use your imagination to think what she may be doing. This could be a forced laugh or it could be a natural expression of someone belting out a song. In the end, if you like the image, does it matter?

"In the end, if you like the image, does it matter?"

Yes, to me it does matter. The expression and how it works with the photo and what it says to me is what would cause me to like the picture or not. How could I like an image and it not matter what the expression of the subject of that image is saying to me? For me, that would be an incomplete or fractured way of looking at a photo.

When someone titles a photo "Existential Angst," I assume they have a strong association with what their photo is expressing. If, instead, it expresses that a woman may be belting out a song, they may have missed their intended mark. Sometimes, the intended mark of the photographer really doesn't matter, because an expression can be variable and effective enough to mean many things. The photographer's "interpretation" doesn't have to reign supreme. But sometimes the expression simply doesn't work effectively. It's for each viewer to decide which, if either, is the case.

Don't order Bombay Duck in a Chinese restaurant. I have seen people complain about what has been put in front of them even when the dish was clearly illustrated with a photograph of what the dish was. I really don't like getting into a debate on the page of someone else. The point I was making is you cannot know for sure if the expression is natural or forced. Again, does it matter?

I think a good critique page should take all kinds of forms, including disagreements among critics. I may not always be able to tell whether an expression is forced or natural (though I think many seasoned viewers often can) but I can tell whether an expression looks forced or natural to me. Some natural expressions work. Some forced expressions work. Some natural expressions do not. Some forced expressions do not. That will depend on the visual context within which the expression is found. How the expression reads in relationship to the rest of the photo does matter to me.

Gentlemen...

I used to not title my works at all but then my wife, an artist in her own right (Google... Rosemary KimBal, Dancing Brush Studio) explained to me that if you put a title on a piece the viewer will be compelled to look at it longer and contemplate the relationship between the image and its title. Whereas the average viewing time given an image in a gallery or a museum is 3 seconds or less, I'm thinking the title I've given this piece was very successful indeed. Its garnered far more than 3 seconds from the each of you already and for this I thank you both :=}

Cordially, Raymond

In terms of length of viewing and depth of discussion, I'd give more of a role to your photo than to its title. It was your photo that stopped me in the critique forum and I didn't even notice your title until I opened and had already looked at the photo for some time.

Furthermore, the length of time viewed and discussion is, for me, a function of the fact that I've been asked to critique this photo and it stood out to me in a long queue of other photos and, just as importantly, the fact that David questioned me (which I appreciate) and I enjoyed answering him and discussing these matters with him.

[by the way, I have spent quite a bit of time looking at and discussing photos I think are terrible. (Obviously, I think this one is good, not terrible, though I have some issues with it.) And I have spent probably the most time discussing photos that have no titles.]

I don't think the point is whether or not a title causes more discussion. For me, it's about whether a title may give a hint that a photographer is or is not effectively expressing what they think they are expressing or in what way the title integrates with the image. As a confident photographer, there will be times I disagree with a critic's view, but as someone ever honing my expressive side, there are times I miss expressing in the neighborhood of what I was trying to. Of course, there are times when what I am expressing is ambiguous enough that I wouldn't expect even close agreement on the emotions produced. But, if that were the case, I wouldn't title the work with a specific emotional characteristic.

In this case and in my opinion, the important part of the discussion is more specifically about your subject's expression relative to the rest of the photo, and you've not responded to that key part of the discussion.

and i won't... i'll just let the work speak for itself and it seems that it already has :=}

Raymond, I accept your choice not to. Since I'm here to learn and I learn, at least partly, through sharing and discourse, especially when I ask people to critique my work or when I share honest thoughts about another's work with them, I am disappointed but happy to move on. Like you, I think good work often speaks for itself and I have also seen "good work speaks for itself" used as an excuse to evade responding to criticism, to avoid carefully considering one's work, and to resist uncomfortable but constructive dialogue. My assessment of the use of that phrase depends on each situation in which I use or encounter it.

Stay well.

O Fred...

Let's beat this dead horse shall we...

You are right (will this satisfy you and your need to be and to hear it with your own ears and not just in your mind?), her expression may be construed as a laugh. She may just be laughing at you and YOUR Existential Angst! I told you how and why I name images. Were you born in the year of the dragon by any chance? I often do, and very happily so, pick up a book of poetry and find a phrase that bears not even a remote connection to the subject at hand and use it as a title. I do it because I choose to.

If it pleases the viewer, this pleases me. If it discomforts the viewer, which it certainly has here, this pleases me too. It pleases me that you are discomforted by my title and find it wrong. Perverse am I not! 

One of the functions of Art, Fred, is to elicit a response in the viewer. This certainly has worked with YOU... Admit it, or or you one of those who can never admit they are wrong or at least that there may be other ways of doing things than your own.

If you reply, you will indeed have the last word. Some... only  crave that... Enjoy it if need be. I'm still happy with the name be it germane or totally unreasonable.  I'm happy with it. And being as how I am the center of MY universe, that is a good thing.

If you feel like I've been baiting you... I have. Reeled you in too I have.

I'll leave you with one last thought. If you can learn to laugh at yourself, you'll have a lifetime of enjoyment. I can... I do :=}

excelente, mi mas sincera enhorabuena.

saludos

atte contecon