I deleted this topic (which I had originally posted) because after considering its content, I decided that it wasn't that interesting and/or thought provoking..

Thanks, Fempie, for your very analytic and interesting reply.
Your response has made the topic worth reposting..

There were some problems with displaying the images, but I was able to make adjustments that worked...

The recent (just ended) "Night skyline" contest led me to wonder to what extent do theme changes affect the way viewers evaluate an image? For example, if an image is artistically
superb, but thematically revolting will a viewer be less likely to
appreciate the artistry because the image is thematically repulsive..
For example, attached below are three different versions of the "Night skyline" image. The first titled "viewing" appears to me to be thematically neutral.



The second titled "Lurking" could be interpreted to suggest an ugly and negative point of view.







And the third titled "Young love" could be viewed in a more positive light.






Probably too subjective a topic for any general consensus point of view, but ,for me anyway, a question that inspires interest and curiousity.

Hey Patre... That is an interesting question. So I took a good look at the 3 photos and try to analyse my feeling and how it motivates me (or not) to vote for them.

If I would have to give a vote for one of these 3 pictures... I would choose for the first one.

The first one gives me the feeling that I am "part of that image". I am actually standing beside the guy and because of that the perspective/athmosphere becomes real. That feeling would make me vote for it immediately.

The second one and the third one makes me clearly the "3rd person". Because of that I am forced to take an more objective view and be more critical about the chopping quality (reduces already the chance for a vote).

After judging the 2nd and 3rd photo, I decide that the lightning and sharpness of the couple don't match the overall image.
I would decide not to vote and click further to the next entry.

So in the end I think I give a vote if an image gives me a certain feeling. A smile, amazed, emotional etc.

Oh patre... I DID find it interesting!... put it back please?... I will keep my answer here anyway!

you know, Pat... i took me already half an hour to understand your question, and im still not sure if i got it right ...and it is still difficult to answer!

so... i think for me it makes not really a difference what theme it is. it seems more important to me that it does have some interesting story - whatever "interesting" could mean for that matter. The last ("young love"), for example, i consider somewhat "average" or "cliche" (to not say *boring*).
After evaluating that "interesting-factor" for myself, i go on to examine the pic for the quality, theme and story totally aside (i hope ). imagine it as kind of rating system which generates a "value" for the chop quality (is that what you mean with "artistry"??? ). in the end i sum both values up, which gives my final opinion about the picture...

uhm... kind of... maybe...

Dunno,
I like the way you first evaluate the image on a thematic level,
And then make a judgment on it's technical merit. I suspect that most viewers rate an image using a similar formula..

I like #1

wow... that sounds complicated btv!... Maybe you can keep it next time a bit shorter cause I can hardly follow you.
Do you always talk that much?

For me...it depends.
Thematically, if the idea is there...and it's strong...more times then not I'll vote for it. It doesn't really matter to me if it's funny, horrifying, silly or out of the box...all that matters is that the visual has to make me think.
I don't really nit-pick the technical aspects unless it's something blatantly obvious that needs to be corrected.
Everyone works on their own level and some of us are better than others. That's to be expected.

Hi Pat! With so many posts lately, I first scan the entries. Your #1 image is very compelling and I would probably click on it immediately. Next I look to see if the image is clean...representing time spent on it by its "author." Clearly, it must have a level of creativity and originality involved too. I don't give a lot of thought to "theme," however, an image relating a story is appreciated.

And, if it's by a relatively new member who has an excellent idea but lacks finesse, I'll surely vote for it.

my 2 cents...

I think I understand what you are getting at. I believe I have lost some votes in the past because something was too gross or gory, or maybe the image just sucked

Thanks for all of the replies....
Yes, Rey, my original goal was to determine if "negatively" connotated posts (gore etc) would be less appreciated by most viewers.
However, the variety of responses in this thread suggest that viewers use more than one factor to rate an image.....

Something that is revealing about voting is...Check out the dried plants contest. Look at each image and check out the page view numbers. Very revealing I think. To me it says that people are looking at the thumbnails and thats it. I understand that later entries will have less views but even the images that were there for a while were avoided. I just thought it was revealing a bad trend. I'll bet you can tell the winner by the numbers.

I think so too.

Another of my issues* led to me being falsely accused of 'whoring for votes', when all I did was point out and complain that everyone that was sitting in the chat room at the particular moment hadn't bothered voting. It was a prize contest to which i was referring and I didn't mention or even vaguely hint at the identity of my entry.


*Issues is a putting it far too strongly.
It just puzzles me.

at the risk of going off topic, i agree, this is a bad trend. though i'm not sure it's a trend as such, i think it's probably always been the case. i guess you could prevent voting before a user had viewed a minimum number of full-sized images, but i can't see this being a success
but really, if you don't view all images at at least normal size, and vote accordingly, you're unfairly skewing the voting

If the color balance was fixed on the couple the second one would definitely be my favorite.
On the first one It kinda lacks context. The guys just kinda slapped into the cityscape.
The second one I find funny. With the creepy old man staring at them. It tells a story.
The third one is just kinda boring and cliche. A couple kissing in the moon light.....Its missing something.......Oh! yes! A creepy old man staring at them.