How do we know that something is true or not? In many cases, it is based on our own experiences and at the time of the experience. If I am 6′ 4″ and hang around a bunch of NBA basketball players, I am considered short, but if I am hanging around my friends who average 5′ 9″ then I am tall. It is the context of the comparison that determines if I am tall or not. In rhetoric and philosophy, we call this contextualism. As it relates to knowledge and what we know, it is epistemic contextualism.
When we are judging and looking at photographs the context by which we frame our feedback can make a huge difference in how we appreciate and understand the work. I think many of us at times have used our own egos as a context to judge if we could do better work than what we are looking at. Other times, we might take a less egocentric approach and dive deeper into the work in an attempt to find some meaning or higher understanding. As we critique work, be it our own or the work of others, we need to find a way to identify the context we are evaluating the work and determine if the context is appropriate or limiting our experience of the work. In the analysis of an image, any supposition we enter the conversation with will impact our relationship, but by understanding as much of the bias or context ahead of time as possible, we should be in a stronger position to provide meaningful feedback.
Gear used in podcast
One of the questions I get asked frequently is what sort of equipment do I use to record my podcast. I have used a variety of equipment in the three years that I have been recording, but here is the current list of equipment that I am using. Also as an FYI and full disclosure, the links are affiliate links to Amazon.
Rode Procaster XLR microphone
Rode Boom Arm
Rode PSM Shockmount
All three Rode components as kit
Focusrite Scarlet 2i2
Adobe Audition (part of create cloud subscription)
LogicPro X
Macbook Pro
OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock
Headphones