Lensculture B&W competition 2024
A series of images entered into LensCulture Black and White Photography awards 2024.
This is the a copy of the critical review for my series by an amazing reviewer who should be teaching people how to do this.
Reviewer Portfolio Feedback
Well, my dear Richard, there is something in these images that resonates with the tone of the project statement. A tone that feels poetic and elegant, and simultaneously harsh and realistic. Just like in the text, there is a narrative thread that runs beneath the images, indicating a revelation.
You may photograph plants and flowers but your approach has nothing to do with the subjects themselves. It is not the object nor the form that drives you to make these images. It is not even the gestures of light and shadow that often motivate photographers to engage with their subjects. There is a mystical aura in the approach that indicates the taking of a journey in rediscovering life. Your approach reminded me of the words of the deceased, iconic film director Abbas Kiarostami: "I've often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us unless it's inside a frame." I feel that something in these words of Kiarostami is materialized here, in your work. Your pictures are more about the act of framing itself, an act that uncovers the essence of nature, not automatically but only if the artist expresses an honest need to take this journey. And you do express that need, Richard. I can feel it in the approach, the selections you make, the poetic touch upon the subject, the intimacy and tenderness of your gaze. Of course, you look to make the most out of your subject. After all, you are a photographer and that is what photographers are supposed to be doing. But your artistic choices come forth smoothly, organically, without pressing the subject to offer you its best self, or demanding the light to be ideal.
In a different case, I would be mentioning as an issue the difference between neutral monochrome and sepia toning that split the series into two portions. I would possibly be mentioning as also an issue the difference in the aspect ratio among the photographs. But in your case, I won't do that. I won't do it because the spirit and vision of the series do not rely on the cohesiveness of the form nor the coherency of style or subject matter. The images tie together because they express the same internal attitude and concern of the person behind this camera. And this attitude and concern are truthful and honest, something rarely seen in the arts nowadays.
Richard, I cannot be sure of how far your work may go in the contest. What I do now though and I can tell it in all honesty is that you have managed to create a work that inspires and encourages people to slow down and look better around them. But at that point comes the failure of language. Because your images do not just cause emotions or tell stories, but something else either impossible to quantify or have the language to express. Telling stories is important. But it is also important to say to the viewer: "Stop speaking and only look out at the world." And you can say that through a poetical language full of enigma. All in the service of the secret cord. The thing that taps into the limitless, sublime unknowable.
Sincerely,
J.
This is the a copy of the critical review for my series by an amazing reviewer who should be teaching people how to do this.
Reviewer Portfolio Feedback
Well, my dear Richard, there is something in these images that resonates with the tone of the project statement. A tone that feels poetic and elegant, and simultaneously harsh and realistic. Just like in the text, there is a narrative thread that runs beneath the images, indicating a revelation.
You may photograph plants and flowers but your approach has nothing to do with the subjects themselves. It is not the object nor the form that drives you to make these images. It is not even the gestures of light and shadow that often motivate photographers to engage with their subjects. There is a mystical aura in the approach that indicates the taking of a journey in rediscovering life. Your approach reminded me of the words of the deceased, iconic film director Abbas Kiarostami: "I've often noticed that we are not able to look at what we have in front of us unless it's inside a frame." I feel that something in these words of Kiarostami is materialized here, in your work. Your pictures are more about the act of framing itself, an act that uncovers the essence of nature, not automatically but only if the artist expresses an honest need to take this journey. And you do express that need, Richard. I can feel it in the approach, the selections you make, the poetic touch upon the subject, the intimacy and tenderness of your gaze. Of course, you look to make the most out of your subject. After all, you are a photographer and that is what photographers are supposed to be doing. But your artistic choices come forth smoothly, organically, without pressing the subject to offer you its best self, or demanding the light to be ideal.
In a different case, I would be mentioning as an issue the difference between neutral monochrome and sepia toning that split the series into two portions. I would possibly be mentioning as also an issue the difference in the aspect ratio among the photographs. But in your case, I won't do that. I won't do it because the spirit and vision of the series do not rely on the cohesiveness of the form nor the coherency of style or subject matter. The images tie together because they express the same internal attitude and concern of the person behind this camera. And this attitude and concern are truthful and honest, something rarely seen in the arts nowadays.
Richard, I cannot be sure of how far your work may go in the contest. What I do now though and I can tell it in all honesty is that you have managed to create a work that inspires and encourages people to slow down and look better around them. But at that point comes the failure of language. Because your images do not just cause emotions or tell stories, but something else either impossible to quantify or have the language to express. Telling stories is important. But it is also important to say to the viewer: "Stop speaking and only look out at the world." And you can say that through a poetical language full of enigma. All in the service of the secret cord. The thing that taps into the limitless, sublime unknowable.
Sincerely,
J.
