This past Friday, I had one of the busiest days in my recent memory. From being on Michigan Ave. across from the Art Institute at 8 am to teach day 2 of an all day workshop. To jumping on the train back and being at the Starline Gallery and Studios in Harvard by 6:30 pm it was a busy day.

This effort was well worth it by the end of the night! But I’m getting ahead of myself. On to Simply Learn | Critique Night. After turning in my print, I received a clipboard and section in order to critique, what I believe to be, around 30 photos. I have never taken part of a written art critique, but found I was able to quickly get into the groove. After fighting off some hand cramps (I haven’t written that much in years) I was excited to hear the guest expert, photographer, Cesar Augusto critique selected photos in front of the group. After the first few critiques I realized that although I have never critiqued other’s work before I shared similar thoughts to Cesar’s. At the same time I realized that I may have been a little too focused on technical aspects of photos over some great artistic expression.

After a few prints were critiqued, my photo was lucky to be chosen (shown above). Cesar provided some very insightful comments on my photo. I really was pleased that my effort to capture a moment in time was able to bring him into the scene. The next day reviewing the critiques by all the other photographers who attended reaffirmed that sense. I very much appreciate the critical reviews of the photo and the feedback I received. I am excited to find out who will be the next guest expert as this experience has been wonderful. If you are an artist and especially a photographer, allowing your work to be critiqued is a great learning experience. I feel that I need to be continually learning and growing my skills to improve my work. If you want to take part of this great opportunity make sure to check out next month’s Critique Night.