One of my heroes, Francis Schaeffer, had some very good insight on the criteria of what art should be. I have tried to use these rules whenever I create a photo, and hope that others will put these guidelines into use as well. These guidelines are called the "Four Standards of Judgment" and they should be applied to every work of art.
The first "Standard of Judgment" is Excellence. This simply means that it should be well done technically. Thanks to the efforts of the Dreamstime editors, we can be pretty sure that most of the images on here are well done technically. Here is one of my images that fits this criteria. Not only is it technically well done, but the lighting was also well done in my own humble opinion (although with no help from me).
The second "Standard of Judgment" is Validity. This is a little more difficult to explain, but it basically means that the artist is true to himself and is not fooling the viewer. For instance, in this picture, I picked a subject that I like and reflects my personality. I like hard workers and I like the result and satisfaction of working hard with my own hands. Some people would see this as disgusting or dirty. However, I didn't take this picture to fool people. I took it to reflect my character and to make hard work look good.
The third "Standard of Judgment" is Content. This means that the artwork genuinely reflects the worldview of the artist. For instance, in this picture, I am showing my worldview of nature. My worldview is that man and nature should live in harmony with man subduing but also replenishing the earth. Man should not blot out the existence of nature, and in no way vice versa.
And lastly comes the fourth "Standard of Judgment" which is Integration. This means that there must be a strong correlation between style and content. In this picture, the two contrasting colors (the style) correlate with the strange and unusual contrast of kimchi (the content).
I hope I have helped to clearly state some, what I think, wonderful guidelines of any art, let it be a photograph or a painting or a sculpture. Hopefully these "Standards" will help you accomplish your goals in photography. Francis Schaeffer also said, "A Christian should use these arts to the glory of God." That is my ultimate goal. I use the "Four Standards of Judgment" to help me accomplish this goal, and I hope you will be inspired to do the same. Gabe
