I disagree to the criticizim yet I know one opens self to it when you post anything. There is enough negativity in the world why spread more, just because you think it's bad doesn't mean someone else does.
I have learned that things I think are bad like some of my blurry pictures people have told me they like them a lot, even if I think they suck I may still post them or put them online some place. We each see what we want or are ready to see when we are ready. You may see something you hate, another may see something they like.
Some things may be out of focus and others may know this, however they might actually like it being out of focus, or are doing it for a specific reason.
I don't feel anyone has the right to judge anothers work all though we tend to do it anyways. I like to keep in mind, heart and soul that we all have our own uniquesness of what we like or not, we need to give others the same rights that we would want as well. To not be judged for what we do. If you don't like it, then don't look at it. If you think it's a waste of time then one could argue the point of being on the internet is too. I don't think one would be here if they didn't have time to waste.
There are all kinds of skill levels, I know I am basic skill level as I take them to share my journey not to be perfect to be real.
That's my 1/2 cent.

All valid points, Brad! The human brain has a need to compartmentalize and thus maybe PHOTOGRAPHY is too broad for some or most when other forums speak to specific needs of ours. And yes, whether or not I or anyone views a photograph posted here as "dreadful," and as you point out- there are many, I would still like to think that we are all encouraged to share and as you say, be respectful in our comments.

in the four decades I've been doing photography, and heard the discussions when I was in Art & High School and college, I've found most of the discussions critiquing images not that useful.

Most people only know the basics, it takes years in my opinion to achieve the photographer's own artistic vision, and I believe that vision is personal, and cannot be applied to everyone.

Photography is a mass medium, just like Rock music playing an electric guitar, anyone can pick it up but few can make a career out of it. Nor are people all that interested in improving their skill level or have the $$$$ to be able to improve.

Photographers shoot for clients, if the clients needs are not all that complicated, don't be surprised if the images are not what is prescribed as great image. If we were to discuss by Julia Margaret Cameron's images they would be out of focus, would you call them bad photography?

Should photography aesthetics be boiled down to this:

photography-techniques.suite101.com/article.cfm/photography_and_art

Like school and this tribe and many photography tribes, the better discussions are really best when everyone is at a higher skill level and we go beyond the discussion of gear and into the discussion of aesthetics.

I don't believer all 5000 members are in the same league, and I wouldn't be surprise that majority of the people are novices or hobbyists judging by the quality of the questions.

I was once part of road bicycle, club and every one was separated during the rides within a speed range in which they traveled, slower bicyclists were not able to travel faster, without further training, and practice, similarly I don't believe the majority of people here are on higher level, nor do are they interested in improvement.

Brad thanks for the props, but there are others who contribute to the tribe, besides me and Ron, clicking on the main directly we all know who they are.

I am moderator of two photography tribes, tribes.tribe.net/photoaesthetics which I started exactly for this kind of discussion. I have found that there isn't enough people on tribe.net to have joined or the right amount of people to contribute to the aesthetics of photography.

I also moderate tribes.tribe.net/strobelighting, and I found there isn't enough people contributing to questions or answers to make the conversations worth while either.

As far as removing unrelated posts, there should be a balance of heavy handiness and censorship, esp., when one wants to be inclusive and encourage free discussions.

k0:
> Requests for how-to advice answered is most useful. Unsolicited criticism is usually just idle bitching I've learned to ignore.

I'll second that.

But as I was first really learning photography, places that were designed to have every photo posted be criticized (like trekearth.com) were immensely valuable for me.

Tribe could potentially benefit from a "photo critique" tribe, where photos are posted specifically for criticism.