I was chatting with my new pal Dan in the hallway and suggested he send me a guest post. And now here it is!

I was really excited to learn that Andrew Strout (website) would be one of my portfolio reviewers at SPE. Strout is a very successful photographer and is Associate Professor of Photography at the University of Oklahoma. My latest project is a collection of diptychs, and he has created successful bodies of work using this format. He had a lot of positive things to say about my work and helped identify some possible weaknesses. He thought that many of the pairings I had chosen were already very strong, but urged me to avoid combinations that were expected. I’ve always striven to create photographs with a very clear message, but Strout encouraged me to find ways of engaging my audience without “beating them over the head.” He felt that I was already well on my way, and encouraged me to try triptychs or present some of the works as singular images. He suggested I look at the works of Ed Hill and Suzanne Bloom.

We spoke briefly about graduate school and MFA programs. We discussed the program at OU, but he encouraged me to really get out of my element since I currently reside in Kansas.

He expressed that the importance of the critique was to absorb information from the viewer – to better understand if my work was communicating my ideas in the ways I intended it to. He explained that, ultimately, I needed to be clear in my own intentions/vision and sincere in my approach.