Photoree

I just came across a site called Photoree. The idea is that they present you with a series of photographs; you up or down-rate them, and from that they build a profile of the kinds of pictures you like. I don't know if there is a gimmick in there; that is, I don't know if they're truly building a profile, or just taking a swag based on very general descriptions of the pictures. I'd like to think that they're doing slick stuff, matching color intensity, portrait versus landscape, and all of that, but maybe not. I also don't know if they're going to pop up with an opportunity to send them money. I can say that I'm enjoying looking at the photographs, as they're almost uniformly good. If you'd like to see the photographs that I uprated thus far, look here.

One thing I realized in looking at these is that I really don't want to see naked women. Okay, let me back off a bit on that. I don't want to see naked women if that's all the photograph has to offer. I need an image with integrity; something that has mystery, perhaps, or an elegant composition, or a beguiling subject. Nudes, per se, don't hack it. I'd rather an image with a clothed subject that has strength than someone who's essentially saying 'Hey, look what I got down heah!" Same thing for landscapes -- I don't need to see Kodak-perfect landscapes, grand sweeping vistas and all that. A little bit, sure. But mostly, I want images that are well-composed, have an intriguing point of view, without being 'arty' or 'hey, look what I can do with my camera!' imagery. I recognize that in some ways my taste in all of this is plebeian - what, you don't like the infrared images, the reflection of the photographer in the model's eye, the closeup of the bird's left eyeball? - but that's just me. I'm a plebe kind of guy.

So thats my photo statement of the day.