notes on life : curatorial

If you know me, you know about my box of duds. Some will say that inside that box are photos unworthy of such status, and sometimes this will be true.

I know I'm quick to judge a photo and have sent many a suspect into the dud bin only to discover its beauty as anything but, much later. 

And then of course there's my on-going, dud project that changes a noticeable dud into something of beauty, but that's not what this post is about.

The very obvious truth is that I'm a terrible curator of my own work. The photos that I've taken and loved the most are almost never the fan favorites and I'm always struck with a bit of wonder when a photo that I don't like much at all is the one that gets the most attention. 

It was Autumn Polaroid week over on Flickr and I found myself woefully empty pocketed in my stash of Polaroids taken. Still wanting to participate, I decided to dig into the dud box for my contributions.

The experience was interesting. One of my duds is perfect for my current B+W project and I'm uncertain as to why I decided to chuck it into the dud bin. There's one more image that will likely work, and while the others remain duds,(at least in my thoughts), the others are curious because while I might not think they're  great, they were 'well-received' in that beautiful and very subjective position that is the internet. 

Even more curious to me, one of the images, which was called 'disparate' and 'what were you even doing in that photo?' in my crit class, was a favorite almost everywhere else.

There will be people that my art will speak to, and others that it doesn't. The subjectivity will eat you alive if you let it, and once again I am reminded to stay on my own path and continuing making my work for me.