Mothers. They're fierce when it comes to protecting their offspring. I have seen videos of women free their pinned down kid by lifting a small car off the ground and the last thing you want to cross on any hike is a mountain lion, especially if she's being trailed by her litter. Artists are also quite protective of their work. Maybe far too protective.
I have lost count as to the many unintended arguments I've had online when a photographer post their work and ask for some critique. I get it. I too can get defensive when I feel someone unfairly criticizes my work, but through the years, I've learned to grow a thicker skin. We are creators and our works are our children, so we will always be ready to defend should the need arise, but sometimes we may put a little too much pride into something that wasn't all that great to begin with.
Case in point:
I took this photo at the Venice Beach Skate Park in March of 2015, but I'm just got around to develop this roll last week and am finally seeing the photos for the first time today. For the most part I really like this image. It's an action shot. The boy fills the frame and I really dig the angle and stance of his body. That being said, there's a head growing out of the boy's left shoulder.
Most of the time, things like that are real sticklers for me, including this instance. Whenever I see photos that would be considered good to most people, I end up seeing something awkward in the photo (and sometimes pointing it out which I may need to stop doing). "Oh, that's a nice engagement photo, but there's a palm tree growing out of the groom's head."
Last year, I saw a documentary series of photographers called Contacts which detailed some of the artistic approaches photographers used with respect to their work via contact sheets. In the episode I saw, Helmut Newton said something profound that has stuck with me since.
"Personally I always say you have to sacrifice your own children. An ugly photo shouldn't be protected."
That really speaks volumes. Newton would go on to say that he felt that "young people often protect their children far too much," and Newton has a very good point. Artists have great pride in their work, but sometimes that pride can cloud their vision and stop them from seeing their work objectively, me included.
Since hearing Newton say that, I've been ready to kill (read: not publish in my website) a photo if I see something in that photo bothers me and photographers should take that same approach. Now, obviously I noticed the head growing from the kid's shoulder, but is it that big of a deal to kill the photo?
With the example of a palm tree growing out of the groom's head in a photo, that can be easily fixed during the actual shoot by either the photographer move a couple steps to the left or right and reframe the photo, or have the subjects move and then frame the photo. This photo is different. It's a street photograph. I didn't have any control with the subject and the moment is gone the moment I depressed the shutter button on my camera. There is no way I will experience this moment ever again. I take challenge as a virtue to keep this photo, amongst the other good qualities of the photo. Still, he's got a head growing out of his shoulder.
I could do a bit of photoshopping and totally remove the head (and subsequent legs of the person behind the main subject), but I'm no Steve McCurry.
Other than this entry, I probably won't publish this photograph in my website, but if we're going to put our works out there for the world to see, we really should put our best work out there. And we should be ready for any sort of criticism of our work from people.