The Photographer's vision : Understanding and Appreciating Great Photography

What Makes a Good Photograph? Good may sound sloppily vague as a generalization, but it means something useful to each one of us. And, of course, it means being way above mediocre, or even ordinary. By that definition, most photographs are not particularly good. This doesn’t sit well with many people these days, because everyone wants to be liked and criticism is increasingly seen as impolite and unnecessary. This is nonsense, of course, and I’m not going to indulge it here. Excellence is the result of ability, skill and (usually) hard work. (page 13)