Show & Tell by Dylan Toh & Marianne Lim

Show & Tell by Dylan Toh & Marianne Lim

Puponga Beach
New Zealand A mate of mine , Joel Durbridge (dubstamatic on instagram) brought up a topic about showing or ‘saving’ images from social media and the general public. It has always been an interesting discussion but here’s a few points of discussion I’ve picked up on that I’ve always been puzzled about. – Whether you choose to show your images for popularity amongst the general public or save them for maximal performance in competitions equates to something similar. Seeking approval. The question is, why is seeking approval from the public seen as somehow more superficial than seeking approval from our esteemed peers ? Who is your target audience and what is your purpose? In my eyes, if your photography is about producing images that relate to the public and brings them joy in viewing , that goal is no worse off than producing images that relate to an artistic challenge and seeking approval from a judging panel. Both require different skill sets and I believe that both should be respected. Both seek validation, just from different sources. So just go ahead and post what you like or hide what you like but try not to make assumptions about the approach you prefer less as this can lead to negative outlook. – I’ve had limited judging of competitions but when I have been a judge, I have definitely tried not to penalise (intentionally or unintentionally) images that I have happened to see on social media before. I can’t get into the psychology of marking down images simply just because they are familiar. Because I frequent social media a lot and have pretty good visual memory, I’m almost thinking to myself ‘I hope I see so & so’s image’ – and when it pops up on my screen in all its glory, I hope my reaction is not tempered as if I were seeing it for the first time. And even if it is, the considered score, one would hope, should not be altered. Again, my message is ‘peace all’ and enjoy the image for tonight which was taken on the opposite side of South Island from the more famous Archway Islands of Wharariki beach. One of my goals is to try and shoot different subject matter from a location and see if it comes off ? I suspect the Archway Islands shot with this light would have been more epic but I can live with that! It was still a magical morning …until by 70-200 plopped into the rising tide…..

Dylan Toh & Marianne Lim: Photos