This year I moved
up to the advanced photography category at the Lake County Fair and faced much
tougher competition than in the past. So I wouldn’t have been surprised to walk
away without any ribbons and was gratified to win second place in the Domestic
Animals Color class. But I was surprised
at which photo won. That’s because it was my most conventional, and therefore
least favorite, entry.
I take photos
because I enjoy it, not to win competitions or even for the sake of art. But I
do think that creativity should play a role in photography competitions. My
biggest disappointment with the judging at the Lake County Fair was that—with
some exceptions such as the insect category—the judging seemed to emphasize
conventionality over creativity.
The floral
category is a good example. The winners were all beautiful pictures, but they
were also similar—conventional rather than creative. I don’t have any of those
photos, but this one I took years ago is typical of the conventional style.
My entries were
more unusual. I’m not saying they should have won. There were other equally
distinct entries that were probably worthier of a ribbon than mine. Still, it
would have been nice to see creativity win out over conventionality. And just
so you can see what I mean by creativity, I have included my entries (color and
black & white) below.
Art is in the eye
of the beholder, so I can’t really fault the judges.
But I wish they
had given more weight to creativity.
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