PhotoWalkthrough / Discuss

jshook [deleted] says:

It suggests to the viewer that somebody thought it was art.
Posted 54 months ago. (permalink)

floyduk    says:

Indeed but does that mean they'll spend more time trying to get something out of it?
Posted 54 months ago. (permalink)

RexK says:

The only way you have full control over what is seen is by presenting in a medium over which you have full control. With the present state of the art this by printing it. Yesterday, I commented on a picture of yours and after your reply I realised that I was viewing it on an uncalibrated monitor (at work), so what I saw was different from what you saw. Also Flickr does some changes over which we have no control. One other problem is size. In the two pictures in your post here, the first being simpler, it easier to see on a screen. The other is too small to really make out the detail. I guess this applies to prints as well, some look better larger and some smaller. The problem is that if I want to see your pictures in print I would have to go somewhere they are displayed and as we live in almost diametrically parts of the globe this would probably mean never. If we want others to see what we have produced (and vice versa) then we have to put up with the limitations.

Rex
Posted 54 months ago. (permalink)

jshook [deleted] says:

floyduk: Indeed but does that mean they'll spend more time trying to get something out of it?:

They may, since they might feel a sort of vague obligation to take the photo seriously since somebody thought it worth framing and hanging on a wall. But I don't think this makes any difference. People look at a photo for as long as they look at it, however it's presented. I don't know about anybody else, but I make a decision in less than a second about whether I'll spend any more time looking at a photo. I do this with every visual art--paintings in museums, photos in a friend's house (although I might feign more interest than I actually feel out of courtesy to my hosts.) I don't think you can induce people to spend more time looking at a photo than they decide they will, whatever goes into that decision.

I suspect that the size of the image does matter in some cases. If a picture has a lot of detail and the viewer finds it interesting, more time looking at the picture will be repaid with more interesting things to look at. Your jumble sale image might work that way. There may be no point in putting it on flickr simply because there aren't enough pixels to render the image with enough of the information that makes the photo interesting.

But I think you just have to accept that you have no control over the amount of attention that will be paid to your photo, except insofar as you can make images that people will want to look at.
Posted 54 months ago. (permalink)

floyduk    says:

Two really great answers there. Rex - I absolutely agree that we have to put up with the limitations. I believe the benefits of displaying on Flickr far exceed the down sides.

jshook - I think what you're saying quite eloquently is that how a picture is viewed is not just about the medium but also about the viewer. And instinctively I feel that the viewer is considerably more important in this equation than the medium.

John
Posted 54 months ago. (permalink)

plongpr    says:

For me the old saying "paper has power" holds true for the differences between an image on flickr and the same A3 image hanging on the wall. I never got used to reading eBooks or long pieces of text on a screen. Gimme books any time. I even like the smell (the more senses involved the better?). Ditto images. With prints I can even vary the structure of the paper surface. Seen any watercolour screens lately?

I just bought an Epson 2400 and am amazed at the difference in impact between the screen image and the A3 print. At least once I learned how to switch off printer colour management and let Lightroom do the work on its own.

I believe that the flickr benefits are more to do with interacting with like minds. Sharing and being exposed to other images.

I'm regularly challenged by images I find brilliant (now why didn't I think of that treatment) and images that just don't work for me but receive accolades.

It's a funny old world innit?
Originally posted 54 months ago. (permalink)
plongpr edited this topic 54 months ago.

adiemus    says:

I've always loved being able to handle a book, flick through the pages, gaze at it then away - so despite being able to have pdf docs of books, I still prefer to buy a REAL one! It's very similar for me in terms of photographs. I love being able to use Flickr to publish my shots - but the ones I'm really proud of I prefer to print, although I don't do this often. And I do spend ages and ages looking at a physical image where I don't so much on Flickr.
However, I have to admit I don't have many photographs on my walls either of my own or anyone elses - all the ones I've really drooled over have been in books which don't have the same impact at all as a real print.
Seeing an image is all about me - my state of mind, my interpretation of what the photographer intended, my attention span. Flickr helps with this because I can look at heaps of images and spend as long on them as I like - but give me a shot that I really really love, I'd hope to get a physical copy to hang on MY wall!!
Like plongpr I love the meeting of the minds on Flickr, and my photographic education has been broadened so much on here - but in terms of 'real' images, I still prefer a book or the real thing!
Posted 54 months ago. (permalink)

Andy Parker - Avangelist Photography    says:

For me not printing a shot means you think it is too shit to spend money on.

Until you print something you dont know what it really looks like because you're looking at a screen which is interpreting variants in its own way.

It could be making it brighter or more luminous, pushing particular colour gamuts or missing fine detail due to contrast settings.

Print it, it is all about what you do with it as well, frame it, seal it, board it, where you place it, why do university and college students still have to put on year end exhibitions? For that exact reason.

Print print print print
Posted 54 months ago. (permalink)

jshook [deleted] says:

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

My background is in computer graphics for multimedia and web sites. I have come to feel that on-screen display is a legitimate medium, and not just a poor substitute for a print. The vast majority of photos today are seen on some kind of electronic display, and that will only become even more prevalent. I handle an image that is going to be on a screen differently from one that is going to end up as a print on a wall somewhere. And frankly, I am not much interested in the print on the wall. Not because I think it's "too shit to spend money on." Because on-screen is the medium I prefer. It's not a substitute for a print, or second-best. It's a new delivery system for visual imagery, and I embrace that.

How many people can potentially see an electronic image? How many can see the same image as a print?
Posted 54 months ago. (permalink)

Ivan Makarov    says:

While I love printing images, mat and hang them, I also understand that vast majority of the people will only see it on their computer screen, and that's the reality of things. However, what were the chances 10 years ago before the age of digital and the age of Flickr that one image could be viewed by 100 or 200 people in one week? It's not possible in print medium unless you are published in a magazine or displayed at a major exhibit, but even these things don't happen often unless your first name is Ansel.

I do have many problems with the medium of Flickr and I think there are web-sites that present images in a more pleasing manner. But it's the audience that keeps us posting here, and I learned to embrace it.

And I've also learned to never post more than one image a day, as I want my viewers to fully appreciate it, and most wouldn't take time to look at every image if I upload a batch.
Posted 54 months ago. (permalink)

Taz-Voll says:

I'd say......Putting your own print on a wall suggests............You have gained enough confidence in your photo's to misguidedly think they are some kind of art form........

Soon you will realise that it was a mistake........And throw it in the bin.....and put up a different one.............This could go on for some years.......eventually..........Someone will be proved correct...........

You............Or that person, in your head.

I'll explain..........When to stop being a critic........

Some months ago......I made an appointment at the dentist....My usual dentist was not available..........

As I sat back in the chair.......my eyes focused on a photographic print stuck to the ceiling...........I straight away thought....that's rubbish......It was a photo taken of Ely Cathedral......On a very dull day......the lack of contrast and a very visible halo around the edges of the building...to darken the sky........was pathetic.......
As the dentist, Lent over me with his drill in hand...........I asked...."is that your photo"?................
He said yes.................................
I answered........Very nice!!

Sometimes, when you have your mouth wide open.....you should keep it shut..:-)))))))))))
Posted 53 months ago. (permalink)

RexK says:

Taz, Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour.

Rex
Posted 53 months ago. (permalink)

flyingdocphotos says:

Taz-Voll wrote

Sometimes, when you have your mouth wide open.....you should keep it shut..:-)))))))))))

nigeldalton    says:

Sometimes, when you have your mouth wide open.....you should keep it shut..:-)))))))))))

Priceless!! I only say that because I have a visit to the dentist coming up and if I think of it he'll wonder what I'm smiling at.
Posted 53 months ago. (permalink)

Taz-Voll says:

That's great......Someone smiling in the Dentist........
Thanks guys.........Always happy when people are laughing!!
Posted 53 months ago. (permalink)

flyingdocphotos says:

Good to be/have you back.
Posted 53 months ago. (permalink)