The Honest Critique and Discerning Photographic Tastes

A few weeks ago I updated my flickr.com profile concerning my frank and honest comments. I consider flickr.com to be a site for photographers, no matter their seriousness, and intend to treat other members as such. Therefore, I stated in my profile, I am going to be blunt, honest and forthright in my critiques of your photographs. I’m here to evaluate real photography, not “ooo” and “ahh” all over somebody’s cute kid pictures.
I treat photography seriously because, for me, it is serious. I really want to give it my all and try and make it in the business of photography. Only recently have a come to the conclusion that I love and honestly want to try photography, throwing myself into the craft with all I’ve got. But quite honestly, all of life should be treated in this way.
Shouldn’t we give everything our best? Shouldn’t we approach each new idea, pursuit, and love like its the first, last and only thing we’ll ever do? If anything is worth doing, it’s worth our best. I realized that I’m wasting my time if only doing half the effort I’m capable of, only attempting something halfway. If you really want something, really love something, really want to do something, then go for it, completely and all the way.
As I get further into photography, taking more photographs, evaluating my own more critically and being enlightened by the industry’s best, my taste has matured. I have become increasingly critical of photographs, looking at them in a completely new light from before. My inspiration: Magnum Photos, the best photography in the world. If you get the chance, I do suggest you pick up a copy of the Magnum catalog in your local library. It’s a thick book with a multicolored cover and MAGNUM in large, white letters on the front and side. I spent the better part of 3 hours pouring over its photographs, couldn’t pull myself away. Truly the best.