I have been taking "photographs" for over 60 years. By that I mean photos that had some meaning I was trying to express; it does not include the countless snapshot photos I have taken over the decades. In my exuberant youth I flirted with photography as a profession. But I soon learned that as a professional you have to shoot what sells, not what you like. Today it would be a lot tougher, because what you do in post processing is as important as what you do with the cameras.
Since I know what I like and like what I shoot. The opinion of others means little, I hope they like my work but I cannot force my values on them.
My opinion of a photograph is based on the subject matter and is the photo interesting. It makes little difference to me if it is a photograph is from the 1880's and shot with a pinhole camera or a product of the latest digital wizardry. This does not mean that one can be sloppy with sharpness, contrast and detail but these are of far less importance than the impact the subject matter leaves with me.
I suppose that having grown up with black and white images in magazines, TV and photographs, my attention was focused on subject matter, not color and flashy techniques.
Photography is a fun hobby and there is no single definition of fun.