So havi eg fyri fyrstu ferð í lívinum fingið svar uppá nakrar fotomyndir, sum eg til stuttleika sendi inn til eina street foto kapping hjá tíðarritinum LensCulture, har fotografar úr 141 londum tóku lut.
Ikki fyri at vinna, tí tað gjørdi eg ikki, men fyri at fáa eina yrkislærda afturmelding, sum kanska kundi siga okkurt óvæntað. Í dag kom lærandi afturmeldingin, ið er soljóðandi:
Hello Birgir, thank you for sharing your series, “Cracks on the path to The Cold War.” From your statement, I understand you are documenting the mountain road leading to the Cold War early warning radar system on the mountain Sornfelli in the Faroe Islands. It is my pleasure to review your submission. Below I have noted some comments, suggestions, and questions:
Your series is absolutely strong and cohesive. If you are not successful in this competition, I would highly suggest you continue to show this work by submitting it to future contests and exhibition opportunities. Your photographs have clearly been constructed with great care, and they deserve to be seen.
There are many strengths to your series. The composition, framing, and colors are all very strong. It is one of the quieter street series I have reviewed, but there are still particular details that I find very intriguing; I especially love the yellow arrow in image number four, the large rock in the background of image number six, the tiny blades of grass at the bottom of image number eight, the tuft of hair or fur in image number nine, and the sheep at the top of image number ten.
As I was looking at your images, I wondered: How important it is to you that the viewer knows the location and the significance of the location for these photographs? Without you detailing their connection to the Cold War in the title and statement, I would be unaware of this connection; These images could have been made in any number of rural locations.
There are a few instances in your photographs where I would suggest paying more attention to your framing. Pay particular attention to where your subjects are cropped and cut off at the edges of the image. While sometimes unintentional, or unavoidable, these decisions can appear random, strange or aggressive depending on the subject impacted. When a portion of your subject is cut off, it can also have the unintended consequence of leading a viewer’s eyes out of the image, instead of keeping them visually engaged for a longer period of time. In image #2 and image #8 the metal rods on the left are cut off at the top edge of the photos, which becomes visually distracting. In image #7, the rock in the background is cut off at the top, which becomes distracting as well.
Also, I did not notice any references related to the construction of your prints. While often not required by competitions, providing these kinds of details can help judges and viewers who are seeing your work on a computer screen understand how the work was produced, and how it exists in physical space. Have these images been printed? If so, what size are the prints? What paper or substrate are they printed on? How are they displayed in a studio or gallery setting? I would suggest you address these questions, at least minimally, in either your statements or captions moving forward.
Overall I think you're a talented photographer Birgir, and I encourage you to keep making photographs on Sornfelli, Streymoy, in the Faroe Islands, and anywhere else that compels you to make images. Best of luck as you continue along your image-making journey!
We appreciate you for being an active member of the LensCulture’s global community of photographers and wish you the very best of luck for your projects.