Who Cares What Others Think?

@ Bradford: yes, you call that teacher, student relations ;) any body can have good constuctive comments who have knowlege to share.
I have been to the Cape and what beautiful subjects to photo. That is a great shot Bradford! Florida Boy here through &through;)

I got good fast by hanging around with people that were very good and very critical. For the most part I learned a real lot from them. But my best shots have always been a big middle finger to those who say I have to do things a certain way or shoot certain subjects or follow certain rules.

@ John; Dito.........

Roy I used to create for pleasure, and happy feel good feelings in others. And it is fun in seeing faces light up. Yet there is always two sides, every artist needs it. Yin Yang, light dark, good bad. Sometimes you have to shake things up a bit to prevent from becoming stale or a cliche. Special interest groups abound in every walk of life, sometimes it's a blast to stir the pot so to speak, cause a little discussion or constructive criticism.

There is a basic need in everyone to do so, more so in art (be it poetry, music or knocking out a masterpiece).

It's a good day when I piss off the right person, group or rabid special interest group. Life is short.

Not anymore. As we all know art is subjective... :)

Depends who it is. I've found my husband is not so much into minimal images. At first I would leave a photo out of a series upload if he thought it was blah, then I'd go back a week later and think "well, I think he's wrong about this one", post it, and get more comments on that one than the ones I posted previously. But I didn't pin that down until he "rejected" mostly my minimal images.

On the other hand, I love abstract photography but hardly anyone looks at that....so those I do pretty much for myself.

My rule for myself is this:
I appreciate ALL forms of critique, be it positive or negative... and try to gain another's insight into my work.
If I can use the opinion/critique, I do... and if I can't, I let it go.

But overall, do I let others opinions affect me or my work? NO. In the end, I am my own person with my own vision - and only need to please myself.
If I love my work, others will too. :)

The person's opinion that I respect is when it is printed on special currency paper made by Crane and Company since 1879.

Money talks and I listen.

Otherwise, if I like it, that's fine with me.

John - I still wonder that you have the need to shock or offend others for your own internal good feeling and happiness - rather than create pleasure in others at seeing your art. But don't let anyone bother you - you just be you.

I don't suppose they affect how I create my work - but they may certainly affect what I decide to show. I've never met anyone who was totally indifferent to how others felt or perceived their art.

As with Mr. Jeffries I am in the winter of my days insofar as my work is concerned... what is different is that had been going on for last 40 years in blissful ignorance... Since I was able to sell all of the strange little things I could create. This is when all my marketing was by selling face to face....BUT NOW, as I'm relying more and more on this cyber universe to stay a float.(from the Sandy flood) I have to listen to others who know better.,

Throughout those 40 years, I continually heard, "You know what you should do?......"

As I uttered "LA LA LA" under my breath....I always had a hard time not spouting out loud, "You know what YOU should do?...BUY"

Your opinion matters...so long as I agree with it ;)

I think everyones opinion or observations has an element of truth buried deep inside it..

Now that I am in the winter of my days insofar as my work is concerned I go my own way in blissful ignorance of what the current trend in Art might be. What I produce because of the subject matter is a minority taste but I'm happy doing it and although I know that I can paint almost any subject under the Sun I can't compromise because my heart wouldn't be in it. Whilst I respect others' opinions of my work I don't take them as advice, call it ego or blind belief but I soldier on regardless!

Yep, their opinions do matter and have some effect how I create my images but it is not the sole reason for my working the way I do.
I do want to sell a lot of my work, not just an occasional piece, so it needs to be something people react to well. I do not feel that that in any way hinders me but makes me look more closely at what I do produce.

Criticize me better than to pay no attention to me.

I allow the Steel to talk to me... And it says things I understand. Sometimes it even gets very demanding...LOL

Then when I'm finished, some will tell me..."Wow you should do one with a.... And a Thing that..... maybe you could make it..... So I tell them to go for it...lol...Those are their Ideas.

I have enough Ideas to keep me going for quite a while...

I paint for myself , as there is a feeling or effect that I am trying to achieve.
I take immense satisfaction when I am able to evoke those same emotions from the viewer.
I will always looks towards those that can provide me any wisdom towards reaching my goal.
But general opinions ? No. Those are personal preferences, & I am trying to satisfy me - first.

Artists have a natural inclination to need to share. They don't need everyone to approve it - but they need a few to feel it.

Odd conundrum. Most artists would say no and then seek approval of their work.

I love it when someone is offended by what I create, it means the art stirs in others what I sometimes intend. Critics are everywhere and they come in all shapes and sizes. As an artist, be you a photog, a painter, chef, sculptor or digital, when a viewer becomes incensed then you've had a good day.

Do the opinions, or the projected opinions of other people effect how you create your images?

If I am creating it for that person, yes.
If it is one of the jurors in a contest that I've entered, yes.
If it's someone offering constructive criticism, it will be taken into account.
If it's someone just being a snob saying, "This sucks." No.

Otherwise, not at all.

"Many may say no but the relevance of opinion is directly proportionate to the respect by receiver to the giver."

Maybe. Maybe not. I can honestly say that 10 years ago I would most certainly have blown off opinions from someone I had little respect for. Time has taught me to digest everything regardless of its origin.

I pretty much agree with what Paul said above. Opinions about quality or technique are taken very seriously into consideration. I find heeding those opinions is the way to go most times. When it comes to more creative choices like composition and post processing, I rarely consider the opinions of others.

Many may say no but the relevance of opinion is directly proportionate to the respect by receiver to the giver.

I do enjoy others opinions, but I find if I let their suggestions influence my painting, I am never happy with the results. I always envision my paintings before I start working and if I am thinking about pleasing others I am not listening to my inner self.

In a nutshell, no. I spent many years on critique and contest sites. I learned a lot. Several were very important to maintain "sanity" in the crazy world of Internet photography sites and keep my joy in making images. Just because someone is successful or appears so because they have a strong personality, that doesn't mean they always know what they are talking about. Take every critique and opinion with a grain of salt. Analyze it, chew on it, use what make sense, and spit the rest out. Never take anything personally. Make my images for me. If someone doesn't like them, so what?

Depends on who is giving it.

Some, I put a lot of weight behind, others, I don't. In general I consider every single critique and then decide if I agree. When I was first starting a friend said my HDRs looked a little flat. I considered it and ended up thinking he was spot on. I spent a couple hours with my editing guru and mentor working on how to fix the issue. TBH, I cannot imagine putting them up the way they were back then and if he hadn't said that small comment I doubt I would sell like I do now.

So, I pay attention to every single critique but am choosy about what I actually act on.

it depends on the opinion and how much weight they have behind their words. in general i don't accept compliments or insults unless they are backed up with why they like or don't like it. some insight always helps, like they like this image because their dad was a firefighter, or their grandmother had this sewing machine (and they are old themselves), or whatever. knowing info like that is helpful, partly because i use those comments to describe new pieces. any bit of info can help. like if someone said, i think your pieces have too much red in them and red reminds me of violence and death and it turns me off, then you have data that could help you. if someone says, that piece, i like it, but it's too green, nothing in my house is green, nor my friends, if it was an aqua color it would be better. you could say - well too bad. or you can make your next one in that color and that person might have given you a golden tip.


---Mike Savad

Not one jot (apart from my wife, whose critical eye I value)

Not any more. It did matter until I realised I would never satisfy others. Now I satisfy myself

Rather interesting question:

Sometime ago, I asked someone to critique my paintings, someone who's opinion I highly respected. His response I understood, but still haven't followed.

Now, some two years later, it is paying off in a very interesting way, and one that I am so very grateful for.

To paraphrase a popular saying:

Those who can, do. Those who cannot, opine on what others do.

Nope.

I'm always willing to learn a new technique or gain technical info (hardware, software). But, opinions can't sway me; everybody's got one, and you can never please everybody.

That's not to say that I don't appreciate a positive comment, of course. :-)

If opinions truly mattered to me, I would never have taken up digital art!

It seems to me that thinking about current trends, marketability etc. is a surefire way to stifle creativity and make yourself indistinguishable from the crowd. I listen to advice about quality (especially) and technique and I think about advice on composition but then I go and do what I want to. That's why a lot of my photos are entirely different from pretty much anything anyone else here is doing. If the punters don't like my choices then I will just have to live with it.

For me personally it depends on the intent of the image. If I create an image I know is going to be for sale - aka the day job, I'm concerned about the market, I think about current trends, what color combinations are hot this season, what subjects are popular, I'm thinking about the marketability of the images I create, or the mass opinion of the market in general and how sellable the final images will be for the final application they're to be used for. I create images that will appeal to the broadest buying market possible. On one hand I feel incredibly lucky to be able to spend my days creating images but on the other it almost feels like an insult to what I feel true creativity is all about. The concerns of how sellable the final image will be have slowly begun to drain the joy out of the process, it just results in market dictated solutions that say little and mean even less. But when I create my "Art" I really don't care who likes it, I do, and that's all that really matters.

Well wondering youre creating art for the people, to a degree it does. And i also agree if its constructive, but I always say stay true to yourself! People will always have their opinions its just apart of the art business no one can appeal to everyone.

Depends, if opinion is constructive or just an opinion:)

No not me... how about you?