Photography News 14

Opinion

BEFORE THE JUDGE Ken Holland ARPSDPAGB Each issue, a respected judge or exhibition selector shares their thoughts and experiences. Having written a book on the topic, Ken Holland is well placed to voice his opinions on judging this month

MEET THE JUDGE KenHolland: Ken has been a club judge for more than 25 years and now shares his expertise by running workshops for new judges. He’s even written a book on the topic, Looking at Photographs . member of Dawlish & Teignmouth Camera Club Favourite camera: Pentax K-7 Favourite lens: Sigma 12-24mm DG f/4.5 Favourite photographers: Sebastião Salgado, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Martin Parr, Elliott Erwitt, Walker Evans Favourite photographic subjects: Shadows, people, abandoned buildings, movement Awardswon: Various WCPF Members’ Exhibition awards; PAGB Gold Medal: best mono print; Commended Finalist: RPS Photobook Competition 2014 Home club: Honorary life

Words by Ken Holland

Judging: a controversial topic of conversation in any camera club. I’m often surprised, because all photographers are judges. We all analyse and study other people’s work and form our own opinions, and know what we like and dislike. After more than 25 years of club judging, I still enjoy the privilege of studying the work of fellow photographers and being invited to comment. Competition night is generally popular and well attended. I see it as a monthly exhibition of members’ work and they’ve invited someone to comment on what they’ve been doing. Hopefully that person will be interesting, knowledgeable, entertaining, helpful, friendly and enthusiastic and fair. I usually begin by outlining my fundamental thoughts on judging: that the photographer’s choice of subject is almost irrelevant to me. What the photographer chooses to photograph and show the viewer is their own choice. My role is to assess how well they have done it. When judging I try to be confident, brief and concise. I hope I’m honest, modest, open-minded and unbiased. I try to present any advice in the manner of a ‘critical friend’. If I can be fair, friendly, humorous, light-hearted (but respectful), then I feel I’ve done a good job. I always try to manage my time to benefit the audience. I check beforehand when they take a break and at what time they finish. I also try to keep the flow of the evening fairly brisk; there’s nothing worse than spending ten minutes on one image and 30 seconds on another. It helps if the club limits entries to 80 or so in an evening. I believe it is the responsibility of all judges to be informed in terms of technique, current trends and equipment. They should certainly be regularly making their own photographs and hopefully supporting their own club competitions and perhaps larger exhibitions. It helps too if they have some knowledge of the history of photography and some of the great photographers of the past. I begin by asking why a photo was made, not how. I then appraise, assess and evaluate the whole image. I like to mention the emotional aspects as well as technical. I try to make three positive comments about each image if I can. If I make any constructive suggestions for improvement I try to sandwich

them between positive comments. Suggestions are always just that, not instructions: ‘Have you thought of...’, ‘Have you tried...’ or ‘Maybe you could…’ Perhaps most important of all I ask myself not what the photograph is of but what it is about. I try to get into the mind of the photographer and ask why he or she has chosen to show me this particular image. Then I can decide how successful it’s been. We’ve all suffered evenings with judges who just are not up to the job. To try and help I’ve been involved with training seminars and workshops for potential judges and existing judges, with the intention of raising the quality of judging in my own area, the Western Counties Photographic Federation, as well as in Wales. Until a few years ago there was very little written on judging. To address this problem I wrote a book, Looking at Photographs , suggesting an approach to judging and strategies for being a ‘successful’ judge. More details are on my website. Each workshop tries to focus on the positive aspect of judging, but we do ask potential judges to bear in mind that judges do have some bad habits! We encourage them to avoid passing harsh judgement; repetition; lecturing on their favourite hobby horse; explaining how a picture was taken or which Photoshop feature was used; displaying personal prejudices; insisting on ‘the rules’ being obeyed; trying to crop every image; touching the image with their fingers; dissecting an image;

displaying irritating mannerisms; and praising mediocre work too highly. That’s quite a long list, but I’m sure many of us have encountered judges who do quite a few of these, probably without realising. At the end there is no pressure but everyone is offered the chance to do a short practice judging session, using just three images. Afterwards they are offered feedback, and, if they wish to go on the list, they are paired with an experienced judging mentor who will go out to clubs with them until they are confident on their own. I can’t claim that the WCPF has the best judges in the country, but the numbers have increased due to the workshops and there has been a very welcome improvement in the quality of our club judges.

π To find out more, go to www.lowenna.co.uk.

Have you seen a photographic judge at work who you’d like to see profiled in Photography News ? If so please drop us a line to opinion@photography-news.co.uk with the judge’s name and, if possible, their contact details. What do you think?

When judging I try to be confident, brief and concise. I hope I’mhonest, modest, open-minded andunbiased

Photography News | Issue 14