Can I have an opinion of other NPN Members why we need Anonymous Gallery? Why shall a photographer hide his name? Any reason for it? I'm confused about it. By the way currently there are 3 post (and 3 moderators) in this gallery. Members opinion is appreciated. Thank you.
Posted by Lorna Taylor on June 30, 2011 at 9:51 AM
Hi Miro , if you looked at the gallery you would notice it is not really anonymous. The names of the posters are there either with their image or with the changes and reply's to comments received. I like the idea of the gallery for members who are experimenting with their work as a way to try something new with out a preconceived opinion of their previous work clouding the comments . Hope that makes sense. But seeing as the gallery is not really anonymous it rarely gets any use. I think they worked on changing the gallery to make it work better but as soon as you reply or make changes and update the work your name is shown so not as helpful as it could be. I think it is a great idea and could be beneficial to members it is just a lot harder I am sure to make it completely anonymous than anyone thought. Sorry if that is not much help.
Posted by Carol Hyman on June 30, 2011 at 12:50 PM
Miro, Here's my 2-cents for what it's worth ...
I honestly believe that if the Anonymous Gallery were truly an Anonymous Gallery, it would be great to post and get honest feedback on an image without name recognition; I think that's what the gallery started out to be and what I've noticed is that while it was used at first, it sure isn't used very much any longer.
Perhaps it has outlived its usefulness.
Another thing that has not worked is the feature of being able to transfer a given Anon image to the gallery for which it was intended in the first place. IMO, that feature never has worked because if the image does get transferred, it's buried by a long-forgotten date.
As Lorna said, I like the idea of the gallery for members who are experimenting with their work as a way to try something new with out a preconceived opinion of their previous work clouding the comments. I too like the idea.
That's see if others are interested enough to post their comments and ideas.
I guess I'm in an antisocial mood today, but I think think the anonymous post idea will always fail to buoy the spirits of the rest of us. There are good photographers. It is not because we like their names, their haircuts or where they live. They are just better photographers. We like their photography. Anonymity will not change that.
Pete, IMO your comments is what I would expect from more members. When we view and comment a photograph we should only enjoy, praise, critisize, comment the displayed photowork not the photographer. IMO anonymity doesn'n belong to normal life. According to Wikipedia dfinition....................."There are many reasons why a person might choose to obscure their identity and become anonymous. Several of these reasons are legal, legitimate and socially approved of—many acts of charity are performed anonymously, as benefactors do not wish, for whatever reason, to be acknowledged for their action. Someone who feels threatened by someone else might attempt to hide from the threat behind various means of anonymity, a witness to a crime can seek to avoid retribution, for example, by anonymously calling a crime tipline. There are also many illegal reasons to hide behind anonymity. Criminals typically try to keep themselves anonymous either to conceal the fact that a crime has been committed, or to avoid capture. Anonymity may also be created unintentionally, through the loss of identifying information due to the passage of time or a destructive event."
Does this fit to NPN?
If the anonymous postings were to appear in the respective galleries, it could be more effective. Most of us do not regularly check the anonymous gallery for postings.
While I think the thoughts behind the formation of the Anonymous Gallery were good ones, I don't think it's worked out as it was intended, and enough time has passed that I don't think it will. I wonder whether all the people who posted in the thread Jim linked to have actually participated in the way they said they would. If even they haven't, it's really not likely other people will.
I think every NPN member has to work his or her way through the whole "you get those comments because of who you are" thoughts and get past it, choosing to participate in and grow through NPN regardless of real and perceived bias. I don't think the Anonymous Gallery helps in that regard.
I find great value in the comments of the people who have followed my work from the beginning. I find that to be true for work that follows my normal style as well as work that ventures into new areas.
NPN is by its very nature people dealing with other people. In my opinion the less anonymous relationships between people are the more they are apt to produce growth in the people involved, through and sometimes because of the periodic difficulties.
Some great responses above--i really cant add much, but since even though i was somewhat against the idea of the Anonymous Gallery from the start (see the original post suggestion) i had sympathy for the idea behind it, so i tried participating at first until it became apparent that it wasnt working as intended. An additional benefit of the anonymous idea is that i think it makes it easier for some folks to offer honest opinions/critique. It's easier to criticize a nameless photo than it is to criticize (perceived) a person.
Discussion
8 repliesI honestly believe that if the Anonymous Gallery were truly an Anonymous Gallery, it would be great to post and get honest feedback on an image without name recognition; I think that's what the gallery started out to be and what I've noticed is that while it was used at first, it sure isn't used very much any longer.
Perhaps it has outlived its usefulness.
Another thing that has not worked is the feature of being able to transfer a given Anon image to the gallery for which it was intended in the first place. IMO, that feature never has worked because if the image does get transferred, it's buried by a long-forgotten date.
As Lorna said, I like the idea of the gallery for members who are experimenting with their work as a way to try something new with out a preconceived opinion of their previous work clouding the comments. I too like the idea.
That's see if others are interested enough to post their comments and ideas.
Regards,
Carol
Pete D.
Does this fit to NPN?
How about an Anonymous Gallery?
Any thoughts on anonymous commentary ?
I think every NPN member has to work his or her way through the whole "you get those comments because of who you are" thoughts and get past it, choosing to participate in and grow through NPN regardless of real and perceived bias. I don't think the Anonymous Gallery helps in that regard.
I find great value in the comments of the people who have followed my work from the beginning. I find that to be true for work that follows my normal style as well as work that ventures into new areas.
NPN is by its very nature people dealing with other people. In my opinion the less anonymous relationships between people are the more they are apt to produce growth in the people involved, through and sometimes because of the periodic difficulties.