Ps. You know fairly quickly if your picture was a success, deep down, you know. Yes sometimes it can be a bit tricky but... If your first reaction is hmmm, kind of a let down to what I was feeling when I made it, the answer is probably NO. WOW... this is AMAZING is an indicator there might be something there.
Then there are the stealthy ones that nag at you over and over again for YEARS, not in terms of "I can rescue this pile of crap and make something kinda okay" but more NAG AND NAG... this is interesting and special but I am not sure I understand why kinda nagging... those can be wishful thinking? Possibly something that you need to explore more in terms of direction of your work? Or quite possibly something that IS special but scares you a bit for all the wrong reasons...
When you can make anything you want, that's when things get really hard. Most people just go mercenary and make stuff "other people want"
It is a good question and one that I think deserves A LOT of thought. I specifically made a point that I'll repeat again before I give an answer; "Beauty is NOT subjective or relative". I do not believe beauty, if that is the intent of what the goal is, is not at all relative, subjective, nor it is in the eye of the beholder.
As an artist if your goal is not beauty your work will not last and nor will it be "successful". Successful ART typically takes a lot of time to determine if it is a success and the criteria cannot be trivialized into some sort of mundane proof-ism. IE. my criteria for success is if everyone can tell my picture of a tomato is actually a tomato. Criteria met, therefore success. That's a mere goal which can be arbitrary.
Successful ART and declaring it successful is tricky business but I can say throughout human history since the concept of "art" has been recognized or discussed after a long enough period of time goes by there's a very good chance most people on the planet could agree on a bunch of successful art. Ultimately history will judge.
I cast a very wide net that was the best I could do in terms of eliminating subject matter preference or the ability/interest level to recognize beauty in the here and now. I just proposed a criteria of why one that had the goal of producing art with photography was ultimately wanting to imitate a transcendental ephemeral moment in some sort of non-ephemeral object.
I for one do not buy into the radical and complete "eye of the beholder" subjectivity that the "enlightened" want to foist as some soft of elevated notion. Pissing on the sidewalk is not art. The emperor has no clothing with most of this completely subjective nonsense.
Great question, Jeffrey. I'm sure that Bob would agree that the only person it matters to is the artist. However, I have many times captured an image knowing that I would ask others to give me feedback and with that intent my decision on success or failure may moderate. However, even if I don't achieve the perfection I sought, it's a success from what I learned from others. Now, of course, when I'm on assignment, the ONLY determination of success or failure is in the eye of the person signing the check!
Who determines which images are failures - the image maker or the viewer? We all see through different experience
Ps. You know fairly quickly if your picture was a success, deep down, you know. Yes sometimes it can be a bit tricky but... If your first reaction is hmmm, kind of a let down to what I was feeling when I made it, the answer is probably NO. WOW... this is AMAZING is an indicator there might be something there.
Then there are the stealthy ones that nag at you over and over again for YEARS, not in terms of "I can rescue this pile of crap and make something kinda okay" but more NAG AND NAG... this is interesting and special but I am not sure I understand why kinda nagging... those can be wishful thinking? Possibly something that you need to explore more in terms of direction of your work? Or quite possibly something that IS special but scares you a bit for all the wrong reasons...
When you can make anything you want, that's when things get really hard. Most people just go mercenary and make stuff "other people want"
It is a good question and one that I think deserves A LOT of thought. I specifically made a point that I'll repeat again before I give an answer; "Beauty is NOT subjective or relative". I do not believe beauty, if that is the intent of what the goal is, is not at all relative, subjective, nor it is in the eye of the beholder.
As an artist if your goal is not beauty your work will not last and nor will it be "successful". Successful ART typically takes a lot of time to determine if it is a success and the criteria cannot be trivialized into some sort of mundane proof-ism. IE. my criteria for success is if everyone can tell my picture of a tomato is actually a tomato. Criteria met, therefore success. That's a mere goal which can be arbitrary.
Successful ART and declaring it successful is tricky business but I can say throughout human history since the concept of "art" has been recognized or discussed after a long enough period of time goes by there's a very good chance most people on the planet could agree on a bunch of successful art. Ultimately history will judge.
I cast a very wide net that was the best I could do in terms of eliminating subject matter preference or the ability/interest level to recognize beauty in the here and now. I just proposed a criteria of why one that had the goal of producing art with photography was ultimately wanting to imitate a transcendental ephemeral moment in some sort of non-ephemeral object.
I for one do not buy into the radical and complete "eye of the beholder" subjectivity that the "enlightened" want to foist as some soft of elevated notion. Pissing on the sidewalk is not art. The emperor has no clothing with most of this completely subjective nonsense.
But hey, you do you ;-)
Great question, Jeffrey. I'm sure that Bob would agree that the only person it matters to is the artist. However, I have many times captured an image knowing that I would ask others to give me feedback and with that intent my decision on success or failure may moderate. However, even if I don't achieve the perfection I sought, it's a success from what I learned from others. Now, of course, when I'm on assignment, the ONLY determination of success or failure is in the eye of the person signing the check!
I am not completely on board. There are many ways to get people to write checks, the best at is are "con"-artists.