Talk Morgan Forums Community General Photo Gallery Photo Competition

We ran a photo competition at work, which any of our employees could enter. At first we weren't sure about the quality of the photographs we would receive; however, we actually ended up with a shortlist of over 25 photos.

The pictures were judged by a company who carry our all our commercial photography called Media Wisdom (I can't recommend this company enough - they really are excellent at what they do).

These were their top 3: -

1) Ocean
2) River
3) Dune

I was so impressed with the results, I thought you all may enjoy seeing them.

Simon, I would like to see all 25 shortlisted photos(if possible?), as those three above does not do much for me

On what criteria were those photos judged on?

Kin, I'll pass along your comments to the judge... who only happened to win Fine Art Photographer of the Year for 2007!

There were a long list of criteria he used to judge the photos - some technical (like the rule of thirds) and some less so.

Perhaps small scale screen is not the best venue for them

think they're good photos...jst not very...creative..would you agree??

I'm not sure what you mean by creative.

I think creative comes into play when you have a theme for the competition (this is our intention next year; for example, the word 'Superstition' - which could be someone shooting a black cat, faking a ghost or an arty shot of a ladder).

These are all landscape and all are framed very well, so perhaps they are scenic and thus you feel they lack a creative flair?

Perhaps we should run a TM photo competition - it would be great to see what people think is an excellent photo

We could have a submission by date and then run a voting poll for 2-weeks to allow users to vote on their favourite. All photos could be anonymous to avoid any bias in the voting.

Funny, I was about to ask what defines "creative", anyhow, I agree with young one, they're not very creative, those photos are relatively common....

Sorry if I'm being ignorant, what is fine art? Is it something like Picasso's abtract paintings, to me they're just a load of rubbish

Not ignorant Kin, that is what is so nice about art, it is personal taste!

However, you have avoided my question: how about a TM photo competition?

creative - something unusual, artistic. the photos shown are really good, so good that they're the sort of thing that could be used for my desktop...but they lack....something...some mite call it the 'x-factor' or carisma..or somthing...

art - a piece of work that has some sort of meaning behind it and i agree with kin about picasso's paintings, but as far as art goes, they're overflowing with meanings (Guernica for example) and i really respect that. jst look at the rothco room at the tate mordern - for those of you who have never seen it - its a room containing only a few HUGE canvases painted red - completely pointless and thats exactly what i thought until you find out what they mean and the reason they were conceived in the first place!

the TM photo competition is a good idea me thinks..but what ar ethe criteria..?

Let's ponder that over night; however, my feeling would be one 'open' category (aka any style and subject matter) and one 'petrol' themed?

Just thought, will add more tomorrow and perhaps others will also?

The debate surrounding what exactly constitutes 'art' has raged for centuries (philosophy 101) but my personal interpretation is always mediated by the fact that it's subjective. Artists like Caravaggio evoke a diffferent response from the population myself included) than Tracy Emin or Damien Hirst but all are arguably influential artistically in their own right. All have furthered or added to the body of 'art'.

With photography I feel that the advances in technology has been somewhat detrimental to 'creative interpretation'. Software exists that ensures images are now techically perfect in composition and presentation. Those amongst us not blessed with a particulary creative imagination can let the software do all the work and produce visually stunning images at the touch of a button.

Having worked with advertsing agencies over the years I've become resigned to the desire for perfection from customers and consumers but still find the 'imperfect' work from photographers such as Robert Mapplethorpe more honest and creative. Just my opinion.