How to look at (critique) a print
By Jerry Brown
You look at a print and say I like that or I don’t like that, but really can’t say why?
The number one thing on critiquing a print you already know and that is, the impact it had on you as a viewer. When we shoot a photograph, we are impacted by what we see and that drives us to push the shutter. The impact when we view a print is similar but not quite the same.
We can be impacted by a print of a train wreck, and not like the image. We can be moved by the image of a child, but not like the image. Having said that viewer impact is the Number One item on the “critique a print” list. You might ask yourself - “Would I look at this print twice if I saw it hanging in a gallery? Or would I tell someone about the image? So impact is our number one critique item.
1. IMPACT
2. COMPOSITION is in second place with a real close third of
3. LIGHTING.
Composition is perhaps one of the more difficult items. As new photographers one may look to see if the “rule of thirds” was followed. The composition goes beyond that equation to ask the question - Did the composition enhance the impact of the image or did the image have impact because of the composition. Same question from two different directions. Did the composition make the rose more clearly seen or did the composition make you look more closely at the rose?
Jumping right to the lighting, which to me should almost be number 1a. Ever try to take a picture without light?? The type of light, the direction of light, the brightness of the light, the color of the light, are all important in print critiquing. The bright portion of an image is the first thing a viewer sees and if that bright spot is because of proper or unique lighting that causes the viewer to more closely to look at the image, the lighting is consider good. Likewise the poor lighting can destroy an image. Flat lighting and harsh lighting has killed many a print.
4. TECHNIQUE is that one variable in photography that a photographer must keep an open mind about. Some photographers want everything in an image to be clear and in focus while the next one only wants one thing in focus, and then one wants it fuzzy and at a slant. As we critique we look at the technique as “did using this technique tell the viewer the story the photographer wanted to tell or was it just to be different?” Technique is using the right lens for the right subject. The amount of information in the print, or the lack of information, in effort to make the view wonder or understand what is happening is also an often used technique.
5. PRESENTATION is a very encompassing word in photography. It takes in how the image was printed, was the image clean, is the image straight, are there any dings, etc. etc. In another meeting we will discuss matting and framing.
So we have all the words: Impact, Composition, Lighting, Technique and Presentation. Now all we have to do is use them first on our own prints and then other members’ prints and gallery and museum prints and soon you can’t look at a print without critiquing it.
A TEST: Describe to someone that is not looking at the image and has not seen the image what you see. Tell the size, the color, the location of items in the print and what those items are and how the light strikes the items. After your description let the person look at the print and see if it matches your description. NOT AS EASY AS IT SOUNDS, BUT FUN EXCERISE TO SHARPEN YOUR VIEWING ABILITY.