Entry #1 - A Critic in a Glass House
I was unaware that a pie-chart could be so epicly comical. I was in tears, and by the end of the email correspondence between Simon Edhouse and David Thorne I could hardly breath I was laughing so hysterically.
If you have ever been on the internet before, you have most likely heard the terms “troll” or “trolling” used. To put it bluntly, a troll is essentially someone who is a dick to people (generally on the web, but not limited to) for the sole purpose of gaining amusement from their reactions. A debate with an internet troll is similar to a dog barking at his own reflection in front of a mirror, there is no real opponent and you’re really just perpetuating your own emotional reaction. David is a troll, and he trolls very well.
There are many times in my life I wish I could’ve responded to bill collectors with reckless mockery but have ended up turning face and offering formal tidings like a good little boy. To be honest, the only time I’ve ever trolled anyone real hard, was when a friend of mine asked me to photoshop a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket in a photo I took, because she didn’t want her boss to see it. I followed that request by removing the bulge in her pocket, then cutting out her image and placing it inside an image of an old opium den next to three disheveled, half-naked Asian men. She was not half as amused as I had hoped, but her husband laughed his ass off.
The blog itself is a collection of trollings and satirical pieces accompanied by simple digital graphics that are frequently dripping with sarcasm. It’s a nearly sure-fire solution for a laugh when I need one and leaves me constantly wondering what kind of musings I could come across if I let go of all the seriousness.
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| Imminent: by Mike Olbinski |
The second blog I’d like to discuss, is Mike Olbinski’s. I’ve spoken with Mike on a handful of occasions and admire his work thoroughly. As a former amateur storm photographer, I’m always blown away by his weather shots. He has an incredible eye for composition and always seems to be in the right place at the right time. When I began shooting HDR (high dynamic resolution) photos, it was because of Mike. I randomly came across some of his on Flickr several years ago and was blown away by the color vibrance and detail his photos displayed. After some brief dialogue he gave me some tips and pointers about shooting HDR and it helped tremendously. He has since gone on to become a fantastic nature and portrait photographer and an associate of TVN (Reed Timmers storm-chasing company).
His blog is relatively simple by all means. A white background with simple links on the left side, a panel of images with brief summaries on the homepage showcasing his work with weddings, family portraits, and weather. Overall the blog gets by on it’s content alone and the set-up is unique if you compared it to what you might consider standardized blogs (one post at a time generally scrolling downward). There’s nothing particularly striking about it’s design, but it’s effective and doesn’t get bogged down by any unnecessary clutter. Furthermore, being that the guy was basically an inspiration to me when I was first getting started in Photography, I have a natural bias to enjoy and admire just about everything he puts out.
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| Photograph By: Lindsay Horn |
The third and final blog I checked out, was Lindsay Horn’s photography blog. I wanted to find a blog that seemed to have a substantial amount of effort put into it, but at the same time something that I didn’t necessarily like.
I have nothing personal against Lindsay by any means, and I visited several similar sites before choosing hers. Her photos are well-composed and visually I quite like the main header for her page, but the rest of it is rather unappealing to me. A gaudy, tiled patterned background sticks out like a sore thumb. The borders and frames around the images she posts come off as cliché and uninspired. Her style of photography is rather contemporary, and while I’m sure it works for her particular audience, and is also something I also have to conform to on specific occasions (certain clients, or assignments and such), it comes off as insipid and repetitious to me, images I feel like I’ve seen a million times over. This is the problem when viewing anonymous family portrait portfolios, I become instantaneously bored unless there’s at least some level of comic irony involved.
Consider where in our previous blog, Mike Olbinski puts a great deal of focus into showcasing his weather and outdoor shots. It gives his blog a significant amount character by not only demonstrating his multiple avenues of interests and skill-sets, but also giving his readers a greater variety of content to explore. When a photo blog consists of nothing more than a singular, limited theme, it tends to get old fast, and begins to appear unimaginative. Look, I love Greek food, as many times that I’ve said to myself that I could eat Greek Pita’s steak schwarma every day for the rest of my life, in all reality, I’m completely full of shit. Repetition is great for honing a craft and a necessity if you want to excel at said craft, but it’s not particularly useful when it comes to eating the same food, listening to the same band, or looking at examples of photos that ALL follow the same theme and genre and really only serve to try and sell one singular idea. I should be wary of throwing stones in my glass house however. If I’m quick to critique her for these things, what will my peers say of me if I can’t pony-up and adhere to the the critiques I’m so quick to dole out.
These are things that I will need to think about while picking out the direction and substance for my blog. I need to be open, keep my ideas broad, and focus on how I can discuss and explore the subject matter while simultaneously keeping them entertained. That’s basically what a blog is to me, an avenue of entertainment. If the content becomes stale, you’re gonna have trouble keeping people interested, if everyone becomes disinterested, than really all you really have is a speaker in an empty room. If that’s the path I take, than I’m better off buying a diary than maintaining a blog.
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