Taylor Wessing Photographic prize

Think it was probably my favourite of the finalists.

It's a strong portrait, and from the bit of her work I've seen, she looks to be a pretty handy photographer with her own style.

I don't know if it's the case here, but art prizes like this usually take into account the photographer and their career, as opposed to some prizes which award specifically individual images. That sounds silly, but you know what I mean. Basically, it's a lot of cash to give out for a 'lucky shot', so they see that it goes to a serious photographer who is going to contribute to the genre in future.

Reportedly, Woodward had her first solo show just last year. So fair play to her for winning.

The comment and quote about film is annoying. But what are you going to do. :D
 
Im with you on this one Lush, but there again Im not very artistic and still inexpirenced, I can only see that the hampster or what ever it is is the same color as the girls hair?? or am I missing the point all together
 
It's not as good as the bint on a horse from last year...
 
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The goalposts for photography competitions over the years have changed. Nowadays, if its 'out of focus' or looks like 'a family snap' then it's considered 'artistic' and a potential winner. Thats not to say the photographs are not good, in the past competitions were based on technical achievement, now it's a case of appealing to the judges. Judges that quite often have no photographic expertise, but (in some cases) are well know in other fields.
 
it's a good picture of the girl but WTF is with the rabbit and the background.

maybe they just felt sorry cause she is a ginge lol
 
That's three years on the trot that the subject of the portrait has been a 13/14 yr old girl, I can't remember if Hendrik Kerstens won the year before that to make it four years on the run.

I read a comment when the shortlist was announced that the T-W was becoming rather set in it's ways and choosing rather a rather conservative, unadventerous shortlist and predictable winners. It's not that they aren't good portrait, they are good portraits.. it's just that it's all so samey, a rather reserved shortlist plus one wildcard to pretend there's any edge at all to the contest.

I don't see any of the focus/snap comments made by Nigel applying to the T-W, if they did it might be a more interesting selection. And personally, I like a balance of non-technical experts in a judging panel, otherwise judging can fall into the camera club trap of including mandatory points for irrelevant characteristics (e.g. sharpness).
 
The T-W is generally controversial and arguably, deliberately so. We're here talking about it :)

Personally, I don't believe anyone has the right to judge art, It's a nice enough image though IMHO.
 
except that image is not controversial its just a bit crap lol

treeman said:
The T-W is generally controversial and arguably, deliberately so. We're here talking about it :)

Personally, I don't believe anyone has the right to judge art, It's a nice enough image though IMHO.
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treeman said:
Personally, I don't believe anyone has the right to judge art
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How come?

Isn't art all about judgement? The debate about whats good and what's not in peoples personal opinion makes art a big talking point no?
 
"a brilliant, empathetic study of a young woman".

"This year's images collectively convey a realism and depth of vision that makes them both relevant and easy to relate to"

:lol:
 
Just another well taken portrait, in no way outstanding. As for some of the comments in the article - she used "actual film", and the photographer herself - "it is a dying art".
 
I like the lighting on Surma boy, like the Monette and Mady, but think my fav is Old Truman Brewery/Claudia.

Aren't these arty prizes more about the write up that accompanies the images?
 
yeah i like the old truman brewery one, thats the best one, and some of the others are really good too, but this one and a couple of the others are pelt.
 
what is there to "get"? what are people expecting?

I think its a lovely portrait, well lit, well posed. gorgeous shot.

You give people abstracts like the olympic thing and people dont get it, you then give people something clean and simple like this and they still dont get it.

Maybe pictures just arent some peoples thing?
 
If you take the time to do more than glance at the winning photo you might find that there is more to it than you initially imagine.

It also far less self-consciously 'arty' than some of the others.
 
essexash said:
what is there to "get"? what are people expecting?

I think its a lovely portrait, well lit, well posed. gorgeous shot.

You give people abstracts like the olympic thing and people dont get it, you then give people something clean and simple like this and they still dont get it.

Maybe pictures just arent some peoples thing?
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i don't think there's anything to get, i just think the photo is poop.
 
I quite like it, but don't really know much about portraiture. Technically I think it's superb. Taken in natural light, which I wouldn't have guessed, and the white coat is beautifully exposed. I like the subdued backdrop, and the girl's expression.

However, I agree with Byker, and prefer the brewery shot.
 
It's a nice enough shot. Nothing spectacular in my view though. Wouldn't it be nice if it wasn't some mopey depressing looking picture though that won?

Have to laugh at the comments about film though and post processing. Maybe that's why she wasn't smiling - took one photo and saw she looked miserable, went to take another and bam, out of film.
 
Well I guess the majority of the judges ( most of whom were photography related) liked it.

Not the one I would have picked though. Still that's competitions, you never know what criteria they are looking for.
 
"unusual because she used actual film...." LOL. actual film LOL, rather than imaginary film obviously. Anyone who thinks film is "unusual", even in this modern time, isn't current enough, or knowledgeable enough to be writing pieces on such things.

As far as the shot goes....it's a candid portrait, taken at an event without much preparation, and without much inspiration as far as I can see. Art is of course subjective, I would never say it was "bad", or "crap", because it's not. It's just not to my taste, and not what I would expect to win a portrait prize to the standard the TW SHOULD be.

It's not technically amazing, it's not compositionally sensational, the subject doesn't tell me anything other than this kid likes guinea pigs, it's not controversial...so what it is, is bare bones, and in it's honesty there is room for appreciation. I suppose...
 
I like 'of lili' and 'wen' as these two give me the impression of a story - I want to ask things about the subject. The rest....well, were they chosen for their content or technical ability? If content then they are all pretty standard. Technical... I've seen better stuff from you guys.

so, I dunno, I like what I like :)
 
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Most of them seem to be single photos selected from larger projects, with the winner being from a study of the less picturesque areas of Wales. To me it definitely appears to be one of - if not the - strongest shot of the series.

I still like Darren Hall's brewery shot, and the series it belongs to.

If you read an excerpt from the competition page (and ignore the nonsensical first few words), it says:
In the encouraged to interpret ‘portrait’ in its widest sense of ‘photography concerned with portraying people with an emphasis on their identity as individuals.’
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I think all the entries work rather well, in that respect.
 
Just looked at a lot of photos! As suggested above i looked at the whole project for which the images came.

I don't get it :shrug: For me the Brewery shots were much more interesting but then beyond portraiture i can't find any judging criteria for the award.

I never win the lottery either ;)
 
TinaC said:
Just looked at a lot of photos! As suggested above i looked at the whole project for which the images came.

I don't get it :shrug: For me the Brewery shots were much more interesting but then beyond portraiture i can't find any judging criteria for the award.

I never win the lottery either ;)
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Just don't submit a generic shot of a generic family, in front of a generic white screen, wearing generic clothes and generic smiles, and you could be onto a winner. ;)
 
GrittyShaker said:
Most of them seem to be single photos selected from larger projects, with the winner being from a study of the less picturesque areas of Wales. To me it definitely appears to be one of - if not the - strongest shot of the series.

I still like Darren Hall's brewery shot, and the series it belongs to.

If you read an excerpt from the competition page (and ignore the nonsensical first few words), it says:


I think all the entries work rather well, in that respect.
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Excellent Thanks for the link.

Of course, if that brewery shot turned up on here we'd praise the shot but suggest straightening the horizon. ;)
I like the way he's spotted the light and used it.
 
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Mahoneyd187 said:
"unusual because she used actual film...." LOL. actual film LOL, rather than imaginary film obviously. Anyone who thinks film is "unusual", even in this modern time, isn't current enough, or knowledgeable enough to be writing pieces on such things.

As far as the shot goes....it's a candid portrait, taken at an event without much preparation, and without much inspiration as far as I can see. Art is of course subjective, I would never say it was "bad", or "crap", because it's not. It's just not to my taste, and not what I would expect to win a portrait prize to the standard the TW SHOULD be.

It's not technically amazing, it's not compositionally sensational, the subject doesn't tell me anything other than this kid likes guinea pigs, it's not controversial...so what it is, is bare bones, and in it's honesty there is room for appreciation. I suppose...
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A more rounded explananation than I gave in post 16, but yes I totally agree.
 
The one won that I thought would. Another glowering teenager with red hair. Red haired girls must be the new wrinkled tramps :shrug:
 
Most of the comments on this thread at least equal those found under youtube videos in terms of inanity, immaturity and bitterness.

Are you all just jealous that you didn't win the prize or are you really as ignorant as you all sound?
 
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