Over the years I’ve entered photographs into the Orange County Fair photography competition (with some success). This year I was thinking about the photographs I wanted to enter when I was contacted by the folks at the fair. They asked if I would be willing to be a judge.
Now, it’s an honor to have your photographs selected and an even greater honor when some of them receive ribbons. But I think the greatest honor of all is to be invited to judge the competition. But when I accepted I had no idea how tough it would be.
(For a followup post, please see
http://ralphnordstromphotography.com/wordpress/journal/orange-county-fair-judges-walkthrough/ )
The judging takes place in two phases. First is the selection process. The photographers submit their works online and each judge is assigned a class of photographs such as Amateur Color Seascapes, or Professional Landscapes. We are given a target number of photographs we can accept based on the number of entries submitted and the amount of display space in the fine arts building.
The competition is really tough this year. The amateur divisions receive the greatest number of submissions and we are able to accept only about one in five. The professional divisions receive far fewer submissions and we are able to accept up to one in three. Still, that’s pretty tough competition. It’s not like in the past then three or even four out of five were accepted.
I’m wrapping up the selection process for the final group that was assigned to me. And I’m feeling how difficult this is. As I browse the photographs one thing that is very clear is how passionate each photographer is about their photographs. It is obvious they were moved when they raised the camera to their eye and pressed the shutter. Some are carried away by the emotion they felt at the moment. Others read interesting symbolism and interpretations into their images. They are all proud of their works, it shows, and they should be.
This fills me with a feeling of great responsibility. In some cases I have to reject four out of five submissions and this isn’t easy. It’s not something that can be done casually. Sometimes it’s a real struggle to decide on one photograph over another. And I feel there must be very good reasons for the decisions I make, even though I’ll never have to explain to the photographer why their photograph was not selected. Still, I feel I must be clear in my mind what I would say to them if I did.
There are many levels on which I find myself judging the photographs. The first level is emotional. I know when a photograph moves me. And my own personal feeling is this is one of the most important qualities of a great photograph. Another thing that catches my eye is the light. It’s interesting that the biggest difference between the professional and amateur divisions is the quality of light. The professionals more consistently have great light while it’s mot so consistent among the amateurs. If it comes down to making a decision between two similar photographs the many facets of composition come into play. Of course the photographs that carry an emotional impact already have strong compositions. With the competition this stiff, the technical excellence is also an important consideration.
I know that it’s inevitable that the photographers will criticize the judging. They always do. “The judging was really bad this year,” is something I’ve heard every year. I wish it weren’t so but when you think about it, there could be no other outcome. We all approach art through our own very personal perceptions and with so many people submitting their art it’s impossible for us to all see things the same way. There will always be differences of opinion.
I’m thinking of a friend who won Best of Show a couple of years ago with a really extraordinary black and white photograph. But it was not one that hit you in the face; you had to study it carefully to see its genius. She stood off to the side to listen in on people’s comments and many were not flattering at all. “It’s ugly,” “I don’t know why the judges chose that one,” “What could they have been thinking,” and so on. It was tough for her but my personal feeling was that the judges got it right.
There’s something that can be gained, however, from disagreeing with the judges’ choices. Art presents us with new and unique ways of seeing the world. And as such one of an artist’s ‘jobs’ is to expand the way they see the world. And what better way to do that than to try to see what someone else sees that we may have missed. In my workshops I always encourage the participants to copy each other for this very reason.
Well, I’m down to the last two photographs with room for just one. I must choose between one that is a beautifully rendered scene of a harbor and the other that is a symbolic contrast of land and sea. Both are very well done and touch me in different ways. Which one will I choose? Did I mention this wasn’t easy?
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It’s my fist time submitting to the OC Fair this year. I entered one photo and it was accepted. I didn’t know how big of a deal it was. I’ve herd friends of friends who has work submitted but rejected, but I didn’t know their level of photography. After hearing about the “1 in 5” comment from your post I now feel a decent sense of achievement! I think I’ll now work on getting more stuff aceepted next year!
Thanks for your judging efforts and insights. The importance of light was good for me to learn. When and what time is the judges walk-through? May we come if none of our photos made it?Thank you
Ralph, Thanks for your careful handling of your judging responsibilities. Your article is an enlightening look into the process of judging for the OC Fair competition. I entered 4 pieces and only two were accepted. I was disappointed but now that I know how tight the judging was I can feel better that I even got any pieces accepted at all. Good luck with the rest of the competition.
Thanks Ralph. I look forward to it as well. I just delivered my photos today, so now its all about the anticipation of seeing them on display and waiting for the judges’ decisions. This is going to be a long two weeks of waiting for the fair to start. haha.
I’m looking forward to seeing the photographs in real life. It’s going to be very exciting.
I never even thought about the point of view of your photographer friend who listened to peoples’ comments on her work. I know that I am very critical of my own work and it would be very hard for me to hear people judge that work so harshly. It’s hard enough as the artist to be constantly thinking about what the judges think. But this is part of our craft and it’s what we need to thrive on. Even if we are our own worst critics, how can we ever grow unless we learn to understand that everyone views the world in different ways. I feel truly honored that 4 of my pieces were accepted into the competition and I only hope I can find the strength to take any criticism from the judges and public and use that to grow and become better than I was. This is what I want to do with my life and if I can’t take the heat, then I don’t belong. We should be happy for the people who do gain accolades through competitions such as this. Even if we feel that ours was more deserving, there’s always next year, so let the ones who are being recognized enjoy their moment.
Ivan, you raise a number of very excellent points. You got a number of threads running around in my mind – so much to say on the topic. But I think it all gets summed up in “Personal Style.” Each one of us has a unique perspective on the world and therefore what we say through our art is unique. But we’re not aware of our unique voice when we start out. And it’s not very strong or well developed. Discovering our Personal Style is a journey of self-discovery. We learn as much about ourselves in the process as we learn about our art. The other aspect of Personal Style is developing our Creative Vocabulary to express ourselves through our medium, in our case, photography. So in many respects, growing as an artist is developing a strong, clear message in your work and being true to yourself.
Congratulations on getting four of your pieces accepted. I hope to see you at the walkthrough.
I want to thank you for your narrative on judging. I began to seriously get into my avian photography hobby last year. I entered the OC Fair with five images and two got accepted in the preliminary judging. I was very happy with the results. I am looking forward to see if one gets displayed. Even if they do not make it, I am very happy. I hope to make the judges walkthrough. I visited your website and found it to be fantastic.
I just wanted to thank you for your efforts. I am sure it is hard work and decisions are difficult, but I bet you have made the correct choices. Again Thank You!
First of all, congratulations Harry. I look forward to seeing your images. And thank you for the kind comments and expressions of support. They are very much appreciated.
Very well thought-out and insightful posting! I love how sensitive you are to other people, and how you take your responsibilities seriously. Just wanted to say I enjoyed your post; it gave me a lot to think about.
Thank you Susan.
all three of mine got accepeted! hope too see u there to!
Congratulations Eli. That’s good news. And just to be clear, I was NOT involved in judging your photographs in any way. I’ll look forward to seeing them for the first time at the fair.
Thanks so much!
You’re welcome Eli. Hope to see you at the judges walkthrough. Be sure to attend.
Hey,it’s my first year doing the OC fair competition. I’m doing young adults 13-15…do you know how the judging is going on that currently? Thanks!!
Hi Eli, I cannot comment of course on the judging excpet to say that the notifications of which photographs were selected and which were not will go out as scheduled on Friday. I’m glad you joined the many others that submitted your photographs. It’s the enthusiasm and passion for photography from people like you that make this such an exciting affair. I wish you well.