Hi Herschel.
Devil's advocate indeed. You have taken bits out of their context and
provided what appears on the surface to be a case of conflicting
information; the points agree with one another, however, when maintaining
their context.
Every critique is subjective, period. I never said it wasn't. If you'll
read, you'll see the phrase "as objective as possible from a singular
viewpoint." Apart from stating something useless but factual like "the image
is 600 pixels wide by 400 pixels tall," every comment would have some degree
of subjectivity behind it.
"I don't like this picture" is unacceptable mainly because it is an empty
statement, not just personal subjectivity. I've seen it done before, and it
is a close cousin to the equally worthless "This is a nice picture." My
comments regarding shoving personal biases aside had more to do with
resisting the temptation to evaluate an image because of the subject matter
as opposed to the presentation of it.
As for "seasoned pros arguing about such things," well... 1) that's what
seasoned pros do. 2) discussion, whether heated or otherwise, is the only
method for those involved to achieve enlightenment. 3) "Arguing," like
"Criticism," is a good thing (just a word that has acquired negative
connotations in our society), and presents issues which need to be resolved;
the subsequent resolution(s) are then the fuel for learning, faster
problem-solving, and innovation.
I hope this helps to clarify things somewhat.
Darin
