Criticism Gracefully?
As a photographer, I occasionally get evaluations of my work.
Recently I got one that stung.
After a view indignant rants (in the privacy of my studio and without an audience). I then took a few Zen moments, collected myself and looked again at this latest analysis of my work.
I reminded myself what Nita Leland wrote in The New Creative Artist
"A rejection doesn't necessarily indicate a piece is bad, only that the standards used for evaluating the work are different from yours"
I could see where his points of complaint were, I complemented him on his eye and thanked him for his feedback.
I would like to point out my displeasure in the tacky manner in which I received the assessment. Les Giblin writes in The Art of Dealing with People the rules of a successful criticism, the first rule being, do it privately (versus a public comment in an online gallery, attached to the very image itself).
For that transgression, I am using the retort of my beloved Carrie Fisher "Blow us"
