Things to talk about when looking at photos

• Composition
  • The arrangement of shapes, forms, colors, areas of light and dark, and other elements in a work of art.
  • framing
• Focus/depth of field
• Exposure
• Angle
• Light
• Contrast
  • the ratio of light to dark
• Color
• Point of emphasis
• Line
• Shape
• Texture
• Balance
• Point of view
• Motion
• Perspective
• Content
• Emotion
• Mood
• Meaning
• Something unique about the photo
• Visually Interesting
• Tells a story/Narrative
• Timing/The moment
• Personal Relevance
• The Subject/Interesting Subject
• Juxtaposition
  • the act of placing or positioning items in the image area of a photograph side by side or next to one another to illustrate some comparison.

One critique proceedure

Evaluate the piece technically:
All of these criteria are open to debate and interpretation.

• Is the image in focus?
• Is the exposure correct?
• Is the shutter speed appropriate for the subject matter?
• Is there an appropriate amount of contrast?
• Is the color balance appropriate?
• Is the saturation appropriate?

Description
Describe the work without using value words such as "beautiful" or "ugly":

• What do you see?
• Describe the subject matter. What is it all about?
• Is the work representative(has a recognizable subject) or is it more abstract(the subject is less recognizable or completely unrecognizable)?

Analysis
Describe how the work is organized as a complete composition:

• Identify some of the similarities throughout the work (i.e., repetition of lines).
• Identify some of the points of emphasis in the work.
• If the work has subjects or characters, what are the relationships between or among them?
• What effect does the framing of the work have - fragmenting the subject, isolating the subject, etc.
• Is there some aspect of the design that makes it a compeling composition(pattern, repetition, etc.)

Interpretation
Describe how the work makes you think or feel:

• Describe the expressive qualities you find in the work. What expressive language would you use to describe the qualities (i.e., tragic, ugly, funny)?
• Does the work remind you of other things you have experienced (i.e., analogy or metaphor)?
• How does the work relate to other ideas or events in the world and/or in your other studies?

Judgment or Evaluation
Present your opinion of the work's success or failure:

• What qualities of the work make you feel it is a success or failure?
• Compare it with similar works that you think are good or bad.
• What criteria can you list to help others judge this work?
• How original is the work? Why do you feel this work is original or not original?
• Do you have an emotional reaction to the work/is it compelling for you?
• If you had an option, Why did you pick this work?