For me, a photograph must be evocative in order to merit praise beyond the ordinary. Technical excellence is secondary. The sentiment evoked is inherently subjective depending on the history and preferences of the viewer. Michael’s photograph, Sunday Painters, worked for me because of what it evoked within.
In general, abstracts don’t work for me. If they evoke anything (and they often do not), it’s usually confusion and question. “What the heck is this image trying to say?” I don’t get it. Picasso’s cubism, while sometimes pleasing or interesting to the eye, has no message and is beyond me. I don’t want to work that hard to figure it out. The power and point of an image should be self evident without much head scratching.
The fact that I’m an engineer (nuclear) says something about how I think and see the world. Who do you want running your nuclear plants, Norman Rockwell or Salvador Dali? I go with Rockwell.
