Review by The Guardian

Mark Morb

Mark Morb

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Hi,

I'm a bit chuffed this morning as i've just had a 6 shot portfolio reviewed by The Guardian, and it's mostly complimentary (note the word "mostly", lol).
I have been thinking about turning my lens towards "people" for a little while and their comments have inspired me to give it a go...Candid or posed I don't know yet....but they will certainly follow the style of my "landscape" shots.

Anyway, if you're interested you can see the 6 shots and their comments here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2010/jan/20/photography4

Thanks,
Mark
 
That's a nice set of images Mark :thumbs:. I felt the criticism was very constructive even though I don't necessarily agree with it. Maybe a couple could do with a little something but on the whole, I felt that they stood up well on their own with some good focal interest.
 
Thanks :)

It was tricky as you can only submit 6 photos for consideration and they want them to hold together as a set...
 
Sorry, they do nothing for me and I can understand the feeling about something lacking/missing.. I was flicking through them noticing the vignette added to every pic, although for some reason it suits the last pic, which I quite like.

Still, well done on getting them up and commented on.
 
Number 5 is the pick for me, it's a very good capture. The others are interesting, but don't really leap out at me like number 5 does.
 
I'm with Byker, they didn't really do anything for me, just looked like random snaps.

Sorry!

Although congrats on getting reviewed, got to be a buzz :)
 
Unlike Byker & Harvey I think they're a cracking set of shots (with the exception of the last one, which I considered boring relative to the others).

The review makes a point of stressing the incomplete nature of the shot - which I think actually highlights what makes the shots in my opinion, their bleak and lonely contemplation. Quite '28 days later' - whose desaturated style I like quite a lot.

Shots 2, 4 & 5 for me. Nicely done. Would be very interested to see some shots with people/candid elements in similar environments with similar production....
 
Thanks for the replies guys...some quite polar opposite opinions there but that's all fine.

Breaker hit the nail on the head...the effect of abandonment and bleakness is the common thread...I've tried to keep the "human" factor out of the pictures...these are just objects....

Also, Breaker, you are too clever by half....I only put that last shot in at the last minute, it was not part of the original batch and I regretted including it almost as soon as I sent it off...

However, saying all that I do intend to apply the same aesthetic to a set of photos including people (or at least signs of life) to add another dimension...candid or posed I have yet to decide.

Thanks again for all the comments...
 
Yes good critique from Breaker. With just 2, 4 & 5 the viewer understands what they're looking at. When I first looked through the pics I didn't really understand it. Nice shots and well done for getting them critiqued.
 
You could maybe get abandonment and bleakness from 4 or 5 but none of the others.

As mentioned in the review, there is something missing. For me, it was the lack of atmosphere/feeling from the images.

I don't mean to slate your images, I am just interested in how people came to the conclusion of bleakness/abandonment from, for instance, image number 2 (the telegraph pole)
 
Triggaaar said:
Actually it's not abandonment I think of, it's Restriction (images 1-5 all have somethin man made to restrict human access).
Click to expand...

...and the fact that there is no human presence instills the images with the mood/atmosphere I was trying to convey...with the odd ball of picture 6, although as it's part of a grave I thought it would help add a certain tone to the 6 images...although I'm not sure how successful that was.

As with all things like this, it's all subjective...I'm pleased that The Guardian and a few of the guys in this thread have picked up on certain things as intended...but I'm also happy reading the comments from people who see something different (or see nothing at all) as it forces me to re-evaluate my images from different viewpoints. In fact The Guardian comments pick up on the positive comments reiterated in this thread AND the negative comments here as well...looks like they are doing a pretty good job with their balanced reviews.

As I said earlier, the comments good and critical have inspired me to try and inject some humanity into the images to see where that takes me...

Thanks again for all your comments and discussion....

Mark
 
honestly

don't see it myself, i know it's all subjective but to me they look like snapshots, and not even interesting ones at that
 
Mark I love these and congrats on getting a review. I think this sort of contempary documentary style is either love it or hate it. These however are right up my street and would love to see more of your stuff, Numbers 2 and 3 are my favorite and they carry a lovely atmosphere. Well done :thumbs:
 
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