Regarding the article/essay "Fail Forward and Fail Hard" I disagree with 90% of what he has to say, and his images are...well...odd, IMHO; the links to his website don't work. This is the kind of new age touchy-feely drivel a lot of kids get in school today. Don't worry if you fail the test kids. We'll give you an "A" to make you feel good. In my 50-year career (not photography) I learned what was right and what was wrong from those who were smart and those who were stupid, respectfully. I always tried very hard to not make mistakes.
Wow - the vitriolic responses to Angelo's article and subsequent posts here are rather shocking. All he is saying is
learn from your mistakes. Surely you've heard that one before - it's not new-age, it's not touchy-feeling. Henry Ford said it almost 100 years ago, "Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently." In fact, Ford goes on to say, " There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail." (p. 19. Quotes in: Arch Wilkinson Shaw (1927). The Magazine of Business, Vol. 52, p. 182)
I see what Angelo and Ford are saying everyday in school: students unwilling to commit an answer to paper or a perspective for discussion because they don't want to get " it wrong". In fact a whole generation of students are still using pencil all the way through high school for this very reason. Or there is more white out on the page than there is paper because they want to cover up their mistakes, as if everything they do is a "final paper".
What I spend much of my time doing is coaching students to do exactly what Angelo is saying: don't be afraid of mistakes: when you make errors (in spelling, maths, judgement, facts), learn from them and move on. I think we all do this on a regular basis. Of course we try our best not to make mistakes, but it's our approach to the mistakes we make that allow us either to move forward or forever be stuck in first gear.
Most of the time, photographers here are very open to learning from their mistakes and and welcome the helpful critique received. We often hear, "Hey, thanks for pointing that out." It's how we grow. Angelo's fault may have been in stating the obvious - but it's only obvious to those who have made that leap. Not everyone reading this forum has years of experience (and mistakes) behind them, so a range of articles at different levels are needed to keep this forum alive.
What's even more upsetting, though, is that this first post seems to have set the tone for the series of posts after it. Robertfields expressed an opinion - but it is clearly NOT based on what Angelo wrote. In fact, based on what he appears to have understood from the article, Robertfields would receive an F in comprehension.
I've already pointed out the thinking expressed in the article is clearly not "new age touchy-feely drivel a lot of kids get in school today". A comment like "Don't worry if you fail the test kids. We'll give you an "A" to make you feel good." is not at all what was written and again shows a lack of comprehension. The OP seems only to want to use his response as his own sounding board while not actually discussing the reality of what was written. Interestingly, the OPs post tells us more about him then perhaps he would like us to know.
But perhaps what really grinds my gears is that no one seemed to directly challenge the OPs baseless and inflammatory remarks.
Why has it become acceptable to accept, without question, a grumpy, negativistic, opinion that does not actually reflect the reality of what was written? It seems too many are falling into the Trump-trap of shooting from the lip without any connection to the reality of facts. And, if it's said with enough impact, it stands. What a shame it will be if we let this kind of speaking rule the world (or this Forum!). Cue the political correctness rhetoric!
