07/23/2025
At a certain point, creative competitions are an interesting thing. Beyond basic competence in any given discipline, what can be judged? Subjectivity from a juror’s perspective aside, modern photographers have other factors to consider when answering an open call. Relative to other creatives (painters, sculptors, etc.) it’s comparatively simple to tweak your images to follow a trend. Whether it’s something you think the judges will like, styles popular on instagram, or emulating images that are currently winning competitions. The temptation is there. I recently entered these three photos into an open competition. My criteria: I wanted images taken in a single day, following my own theme of looking at every day scenarios. I also wanted pops of colour without going into hyper saturation. And most importantly, I wanted to submit images that appeal to me. Will the judges like any of them? I have no idea, but I’m happy with these as they are, regardless of the outcome.
