REJECTION

Hey, just because I've been involved with photography for over twenty years doesn't mean I'm immune to rejection.  Whenever an artist submits his art to a jury for judging entries to an art show, he takes the risk of having his work being rejected.  This means, for whatever reason, the juror, or jurors, made a decision that your work was not acceptable for the show.  There is no way any artist can accept this decision without feeling that not only was his artwork rejected, HE was rejected as well.


All artists have big egos.  We share our art because we know how much effort we put into it and take pride in our accomplishment and want others to see it and feel emotional about it.  Hell, why would we put a value on it and expect strangers to purchase our work if we didn't think it was worth buying? But none-the-less, if we have been involved with art shows, we know rejection.  It's a part of the process of striving for perfection and striving for acceptance and learning what the jurors want.  There is no set of laws for these jurors.  They make their decisions between winners and losers based on their own individual feelings.  It's purely subjective. This was the case in the show I entered which did not have a theme, so therefore had no guidelines for subject matter other than 2D or 3D format.


Unfortunately, when organizations in charge of managing art shows refuse to offer any reason for the rejection, it just adds another level of disappointment because without constructive criticism, it's hard to learn from a mistake that was never defined.  I was told, "There wasn't enough wall space".


Although I'm disappointed, I'm reminded of an old Gerry Rafferty song that offers words that console me and more importantly tell me in no uncertain terms,


GET OVER IT!


The song?  Get It Right Next Time: listen to it with lyrics HERE.