Criticism

Sam and April

Wow. My mother recently saw this composite photo of my girlfriend April and myself. She said it was OK, but she would prefer it if I cropped out more of the space in in the center, bringing the two faces closer together. Certainly not the harshest of criticisms, but how difficult it was to hear! She's given me the same sort of casual suggestions before, and each time I have the same reaction: as she speaks I feel myself start to tense up, preparing for the blow and for my defense. I then start racking my brain, searching for some scrap of advice I had read somewhere that will justify my own take on the subject, thus proving her "wrong." She is not convinced. She then realizes I am not taking it well and not agreeing, then walks away muttering something like, "But I don't know anything about photography anyways." I am left discouraged.

This is not the proper reaction to have when being criticized. What kills me is that hers are such slight criticisms; as I continue with this effort I will certainly be critiqued harsher and more often--I better be ready with a good attitude and open ears. I think part of the problem with my reaction is that the critique is coming from someone so close to me; perhaps a stranger's words will not sting quite so much. But I think another, larger, part is my own poor response--no excuses. I am not used to being criticized at school or work, and my photography hasn't been seen by enough eyes to be seriously criticized either. So I am still learning how to cope with it and respond more positively. So please, anyone out there reading, criticize my photos! I need all the help I can get.

On a more positive note, tonight April told me a wonderful thing. She said that, since I've started pursuing photography, she's been exposed to the more artistic side of photographs, instead of the purely documentary images that fill every family's photo albums. This, in turn, has forced her to see her own world in a new way, arranging the figures in her landscape into some more aesthetic organization. This, of course, is exactly what photography asks us to do. I believe this was for her, as it was for me, an introduction to visual literacy, something most people our age are hopelessly deficient in. It's exciting that my interests, even if not my photographs, are having an impact on someone else, and that perhaps she and I could explore this subject of visual literacy together.