Competitions

After what seemed a very long wait, I received my shortlist email. I have learned a few lessons over the past week and also spent some time reflecting more widely. I don't really do competitions but a combination of factors last month led to me entering the Scottish Landscape Photographer of the Year competition. As this is the first time I've entered a competition I can't generalise of course so only have this one experience to go on.I’ve always been sceptical about competitive art…..somehow art feels to me like it shouldn't be a competition. Two different images on two different days in two different places with two different sets of light and two completely different emotional experiences have little in common save for the fact that they might share a common length along one edge. How can or should they be compared? Secondly I think art should be more to do with what the artist thinks and judges about their work rather than how someone else measures it.Competition is also the enemy of cooperation. I despair at the number of photographers who resist giving information about locations or processing techniques. They are preserving their business of course in many cases, preserving their position in others but it seems a shame that a beginner seeking help is turned away or referred to one of their paid support streams. I believe Social Media is about sharing and not just advertising under the guise of sharing. Tricky, messy, uncomfortable but a position that needs sorting out I think.On the other hand competitions can be fun, I enjoy quizzes even though I have the most awful memory. I used to enjoy those team building games with ping pong balls and drain pipes particularly if there was an opportunity to employ a little lateral thinking and reach the prize by an unexpected route. As I think a little more about extending my workshops and print sales the bonus of some external validation is hard to ignore. I’m uncomfortable about the need for or power of an third party opinion; surely the work will stand for itself if it is good enough?There is of course the deep human need for security, approval or validation. We all want to be liked, there’s little getting away from that. Social media has brought an instantaneous feedback system for our work. I remain enthralled by the fact that within a second of publishing an image, a viewer on the other side of the world may see and comment or choose to ‘like’ it. I don't ‘think’ I am motivated by Facebook approval or by how many likes/ comments a picture gets. It is however a source of interest and even fascination. There are further aspects of human validation which are both hard to ignore and hard not to be pleased by. My print sales gradually creep up, bookings for workshops keep coming in and are increasing and an ever increasing number of people message or email me for my advice. These things are all rewarding, but not the end in themselves.This does however bring me to my most recent Facebook post in which I try to make the point that I am fortunate in having no masters to serve and can therefore make the photographs that I want and process them how I want and it doesn't have an effect if they are not ‘popular’. I am working towards a level of satisfaction with my pictures. I don't yet know if this is a boundary that continually moves beyond reach as I haven’t got there yet. The satisfaction or otherwise that I feel is entirely internal, it isn't governed by other views.I received my email indicating one picture had been shortlisted out of the seven that I submitted. Not a brilliant ratio but better than none. It will come as no surprise to learn that it wasn't my favourite nor what I would consider the ‘best’ of those I submitted. It is the sunniest (worryingly) and definitely an accessible image. Others were much more somber, and better represent how I see Scotland between the months of October and about April. Apart from a brief interlude into Winter if we are lucky, the days are short, mostly grey and have an inbuilt mood.Right now I’m comfortable with the outcome and will probably enter more images into next year’s OPOTY and LPOTY and perhaps be surprised at which are well received and which are not. Only surprised however, not thrilled or disappointed - I am only pleased when I produce work that I am satisfied with or proud of. I don't feel the need for anything external.