Andy Klein

Photography has been an interest for Andy for a long time. After cajoling, his parents bought a used Argus C3 when he was eleven. A Kodak Retina was next and its Schneider lens was quite capable. Any spent some years in the black and white darkroom as student, printer, and teacher and moved over to color slides and B&W slides where he has been for many years.

Tutelage from a former Washington Post photographer, classes from Joe Miller, Freeman Patterson, Maine Photographic Institute, Santa Fe Photography School, and miscellaneous other coursework and mentors have helped Andy build his skills. He is an active member of Northern Virginia Photographic Society having held all the officer positions over the years.

Andy’s photographs have been published, won occasional prizes, sold, supported court cases. He was a part-time wedding photographer for several years. He is a recent graduate of Joe Miller’s class on judging and has served as a camera club completion.

Andy’s View on the Role of the Camera Club Judge

Teacher, mentor, and coach define what constitutes a camera club “judge”. While reaching some judgment regarding relative rank of the photographs in a competition is necessary, in my view this is the least valuable part of the job. Camera clubs are opportunities for learning, fellowship, and sharing. Competitions that are without these things are far less valuable than those that do embody what I believe is the purpose of a camera club. To accomplish these goals a camera club judge must keep in mind that because “the camera shoots both ways” the people who present their work for evaluation are putting forward something of themselves in a rather public setting. Therefore, a judge must be kind when making their comments while providing usable insight into what might make the picture stronger. Humility in the face of what often are works of considerable excellence can help keep a judge’s comments in perspective – after all some photographs may be better than what the judge can produce. A sense of humor is helpful for there is tension regarding how an “expert” will react to the work that someone has done and the essence of what may have been revealed. In sum, being a judge is a balancing act where a critique – and a judgment - is essential, but delivering this in a way that can be heard requires diplomacy, knowledge, a little gentle humor, and kindness.

Criteria I use for judging

Impact (Communication) trumps almost everything else. If the photograph has a strong communication about beauty, life, death, fun, silliness, the human condition or any other aspect of life and the world around us then this is a “good” photograph. Craftsmanship, Creativity, and Composition are what takes a strong message and makes it a prizewinner. Creativity can do a lot, but craftsmanship and composition are not sufficient to achieve prizewinning stature.

This view imposes on the judge the requirement to provide a multidimensional explanation of what is and is not working in a photograph. As much as time allows, I will do my best to offer my view regarding these four “C’s”.