Should I ...Shouldn't I??

[GeoffWessex]

Could be worse..... just imagine Martin Parr and William Eggleston in a joint presentation..... "Interesting petrol stations, carparks and shops we've photographed"

[jinky]

Ask him for appearance money Abers - he`ll need the promise of photographic talent there to draw in anyone willing to pay £5

[karenoliver]

I am surprised really that his work attracts such negative comments. His recent work, 'The black country' is a strong documentry project and I thought the photographs were really quite stunning. Is the criticism based on older works, for example 'The last resort' or current work? Or something else?

Karen

[karenoliver]

Originally Posted by GeoffWessex

Could be worse..... just imagine Martin Parr and William Eggleston in a joint presentation..... "Interesting petrol stations, carparks and shops we've photographed"

lol That would be a dream presentation for me, Geoff as I love William Eggleston's work as well :-)


Karen

[ABERS]

Originally Posted by karenoliver

I am surprised really that his work attracts such negative comments. His recent work, 'The black country' is a strong documentry project and I thought the photographs were really quite stunning. Is the criticism based on older works, for example 'The last resort' or current work? Or something else?

Karen

What does it, or doesn't do it really, is the fact that we all have taken pictures like Parr and Eggleston by the score and discarded them without exception as having no merit whatsoever.


What compounded it for me was when Parr appeared on a recent TV seiries giving advice to would be photographers telling them to not even bother to look through the viewfinder, just keep snapping away in the hope that sometihing, in the words of Mr Micawber, would turn up.

Maybe they are good for spreading the photographic word, because anyone approaching the art would look at their work and say "Blimey, I can do that!".

[karenoliver]

Originally Posted by ABERS

What does it, or doesn't do it really, is the fact that we all have taken pictures like Parr and Eggleston by the score and discarded them without exception as having no merit whatsoever.

I wish I had but I have never come close to their standard, probably never will either! :-)
Anyway, I suppose its just personal taste and we all like different kinds of photography.

Karen

[ABERS]

If you look hard enough you will find some!

You're right of course Karen, if we all liked the same thing it would be a very narrow spectrum of photography that we would see out there.

But it's a bit of fun to have a dig now and again'

Remember, "It's about time we started to take photography seriously and treat it as a hobby". - Elliott Erwitt

[jinky]

Agreed again Abers - that Channel 5 Stunning Pictures episode where he urged us all to adopt the "spray and pray" method summed up his approach for me. I`ve seen some shots of his I like and then in the same set are just poor snaps. He always makes wme wonder if he has a delete button or discards any images at all to be so inconsistent and I find this in his new as well as past work.

[OldBoy]

Originally Posted by karenoliver

I am surprised really that his work attracts such negative comments. His recent work, 'The black country' is a strong documentry project and I thought the photographs were really quite stunning. Is the criticism based on older works, for example 'The last resort' or current work? Or something else?

Karen

Stick by your guns Karen. You can't be alone otherwise, he wouldn't get coverage.

I don't follow any other photographer, as I want my own style regardless, whether anyone else likes it or not.