There has been quite a bit of discontent (to put it mildly) on social media of late with lots of comments about “too much of this“, “too much of that“, “the death of photography“, etc…
A lot of this debate is in the ‘UK club world’ where there is a degree of competition both intra and inter club circles and this brings out the best in some people but it seems to bring out the worst in others.

The death of photography as we know it!

I tend to have my own preferred genres that concentrate on people, sport and nature – this is what I enjoy doing. I also enjoy post-processing my images too. I don’t really have a passion for landscapes or street photography but do enjoy looking at good examples of these genres.

So what’s the problem?
From what I have gathered there seem to be a number of issues which I will group into two sections.
1) Competition results
2) Not photography.

1) Competition Results

We photographers can be a little bit competitive and seem to like entering club competitions, inter-club competitions and salons / exhibitions amongst other things. All is not always well though when the results come rolling in, of course the winners are usually elated and tell us so on social media, however, when the scores are not as expected the trouble can start. There are many who take this on the chin, up their efforts and gain the rewards whilst, unfortunately and inevitably, there are others who cannot accept this judgement on their prized images – then the fallout starts. It can often be the judges fault for either scoring high for their own preferred genres, or simply falling in line with some overarching and invisible rule that certain genres are not allowed to do well. This mythical ‘rule’ of course is set by the ‘powers that be’ that hold supremacy over us. Then there are the judges who supposedly haven’t been trained at all or are just perpetuating the trends. Without doubt it is this latter group of photographers who seem to be most vociferous and vilifying in their comments – to the degree that a good number of Facebook groups were suspended as a result of their bickering and the number of photographic judges is sadly falling too.

2) Not Photography

Apparently, there’s a load of images kicking about that aren’t ‘proper photography‘. This includes

  • Studio Workshops – where everything is allegedly set up for the participants and all they have to do is press the shutter.
  • Wildlife Hides – where, again, everything is set up and you fill your cards with images with no effort or expertise required.
  • Creative work – this cannot be proper photography ‘cos the scene doesn’t exist – it’s been made up in a computer – humph!
  • Remote shooting – The photographer wasn’t even there, how can it be their photograph! – Should be banned.

Of course there are pros and cons to all of these but the general rule appears to be if the photographer doesn’t do that kind of photography then it is quite simply wrong and shouldn’t be allowed or it should be pushed into its own category away from all the proper stuff. If you do participate in these shoots then your creativity is your unique selling point so do what you can to make the images your own.

The above four images are not proper photography as they were taken in the stated manners!

So – where is all this going? – Nowhere I would imagine!
As in all things in life, I firmly believe that people should do what they enjoy – but not at the expense of others. You get on with your favoured genres and we’ll get on with ours if that’s ok. In the meantime stop vilifying those that put countless hours into your hobby for your benefit and this includes the judges, organisers, federations members and club officials.
Even better – why not get involved yourself instead of being a theatre critic it’s much more rewarding.

Be the change you want to see in the world
Mahatma Gandhi