Photo Critique. – An essay by Benoit Roberge




Definition


What is a photo critique? If you look in the dictionary for the word “critique”, you will find something like this:
- An article or essay criticizing a literary or other work; detailed evaluation; review.
- A criticism or critical comment on some problem, subject, etc.
- The art or practice of criticism.
- To review or analyze critically.


“Anyways, it is important to remember that a photo critique isn’t about a single photo: it’s about how a photographer can develop as a snapper, both technically and artistically”.




Introduction


If you are a photographer and you upload your work on deviantART, I have in mind that maybe you are looking to improve your work in some ways. You know like me that deviantART is a huge community and there is a bunch of people surfing the website every day. If you are watching a lot of people like I do, it’s hard to see everyone’s work. To contribute to the community, in a good way, I decided to take a random picture in my deviantWATCH every day and give a concrete and detailed critique to the artist.


“Great shot, I like the contrast.” means nothing for me and to the photographer; it only means that you like this particular photo. This kind of critique is completely useless. It’s always charming to see that someone like your work but it’s not constructive at all.


“Great shot, I like the contrast on the subject created by the lighting setup you used.”, for example, would encourage the photographer to continue putting more work into their lighting. You have to let the photographers know they’re on the right track.


When you’re writing a photo critique, try to take a wider approach to the way you look at photos by a particular photographer. Focus on all the details. “Always remember that there’s no right or wrong in photography”. Keep in mind that sometimes technical errors as bad exposure, (for example) can be wrong in theory, but artistic considerations are personally never wrong.


If you don’t like a style, for example, if you prefer to shot portrait in black and white instead of color, it will be hard for you to give a constructive critique. If you want to give a good critique, focus on something you like instead of something you know you don’t like at first.




Getting critiques


When you receive a critique, don’t get defensive. “Getting people to talk to you about your photos is a rare opportunity, so don’t waste it. Let people talk (even if you think they’re full of shit), it’s their opinion, and your target audience should be important to you. Let them rant, and if you really have to, defend yourself afterward, once it’s all finished. Although — honestly — if you feel you have to defend yourself, you might want to take a step back and consider why”.




How to write a good critique


Scan the photograph closely
Take a close look at the photo. Like I said before, focus on all the possible details of the picture, good or bad. Keep them in mind but don’t say anything yet.




But don’t forget the photograph


Start your critique by talking a bit about the photo in general. “This is the thing that is most frequently overlooked when doing critiques, but is actually one of the most useful things you can do to a photographer”. A good way to start off is by saying something like “When I look at this picture, I feel…” Explain how you feel or “what sort of emotional response the photo raises in you”. Follow up with “As far as I can tell, I think the photo is about...” Explain what you might think the photo is about. Make sure you let the photographer know this detail.




Technical points


The first question to ask you is “Is the photograph technically okay?”  Here is the time to say if you spotted dust, is the exposure okay, is the focus is wrong, blur, is the colours are accurate, what the contrast look like, is the lighting is good or the photographer used lighting differently, is the aperture is okay or would a bigger or a smaller aperture have been beneficial.




Artistic points


Now it’s the time to talk about what you think of the crop and aspect ratio. “If the photo is in black and white, should it have been in colour and vice-versa?” “Is there a good balance between the foreground and the background?” Did the picture look flat? Would the photo have worked better with a different prop / model? Never forget: Don’t diss the models. Always be polite.




Good points


Here you talk about the photo. You tell the photographer why you like this, this and this. Don’t use useless sentences like “I like the sky”. It means nothing. Put some thought into this. Writing something like “I like the deep blue color of the sky because it contrasts nicely with the yellows and reds in the photo” is perfect.




Points worth improving


Always keep this part to finalize your critique. You’ve made the photographer more confident about their photograph by now. “It is still important to remember that the photo has been taken, and that this photo can’t really be changed anymore”.
Tell the photographer at least one or two specific points that could be improved on this particular photo. Writing something like “You should use a Canon instead of a Nikon” it’s not the way to go. But writing “You should try to turn the picture in black and white” or “You should try to clean up the dust” are useful suggestions, and add perhaps one or two points that you would have done differently, if you were the one taking the photograph.




Overall


How did this photo appear to you overall?




Conclusion


“When you make your comments, understand your own strengths and weaknesses in terms of expertise with what you are critiquing”. –tangledweb.


Giving feedback is very easy but giving good feedback on a subjective matter –such as photography- is extremely difficult.


I understand that maybe you don’t have the time to write such critiques to everyone. If you are commenting on something and you want to keep it short, at least, write something constructive to help the artists to improve their work.
Instead of writing numerous useless comments per day, take a little five minutes and write a good critique.


Anyways, I hope this will be a useful guide for many peoples.


Sincerely,








Sources: www.photocritic.org, tangledweb.deviantart.com.