What makes a photo great?

[Marko]

EDIT-23/01- Some good debate going now which forces me to be more specific.

For the purposes of this discussion ... a 'Great' photo will be separated and defined in the following two categories ....

Professional Great (photos that have are technically and visually well done) & Emotional Great (photos that simply are great regardless of technical aspects)
I may change those titles as we go along but for now they help us to move along.

PROFESSIONAL 'GREAT'
(Must have all or some of the qualities listed as a great photo is likely to need several to make it 'Great')

A Professional 'Great' photo has ...

• great content
• good photographic techniques applied
• no bad quality elements such as overexposure etc
• shows the photographer captured the image he was intending to create
• a suggested story or strong focal point
• great printing qualities meaning a full selection of tones from black to white
• no distractions
• good exposure, composition and lighting
• transcends the traditional boundries of the craft and takes it to a new and exciting direction

EMOTIONAL 'GREAT'
(Must have all or some of the qualities listed as a great photo is likely to need several to make it 'Great')

An Emotional 'Great' photo has ...

• great content
• good photographic techniques applied
• appeals to you personally with less emphasis on quality
• shows the photographer went well out their way to capture the image regardless of the quality attained
• sentimental value
• artistic intent and content
• content not usually photographed

Please keep in mind that there is no right answer here...

I like this list M.A. but i disagree with 2 points from
A Professional 'Great' photo has
- transcends the traditional boundries of the craft and takes it to a new and exciting direction - I disagree with this 100%. A strong conventional image can easily be Great.
- shows the photographer captured the image he was intending to create. I disagree here as well as 'happy accidents' can also create Great photographs

In terms of your second division "Emotional" I don't agree that it deserves it's own category. What's emotional to one person can be trite to another.

I can see a strong argument (even though I don't personally buy it) for Sentimentally Great or Personally great since who am I to say that a photo is NOT great IF it affects another human on a profound level...but like I said, I don't accept that as Greatness.

Marko - these points I fully concur with. Within the thread there is a bit of quibbling about taste. That is from which I was coming from. Is greatness a taste issue? or is it a technical issue?

This question further strengthens my assertion that Greatness is NOT a taste issue, for me it's closer to a technical issue. (If it WAS a taste issue, defining it is a waste of time, again taste is personal and completely subjective. What I think we are searching for is something tangible and objective). A Great photo is still great EVEN if it doesn't appeal to a person's taste...that viewer should still be able to see the Greatness in it.

This is why I feel the Greatness should have an almost Universal appeal (you'll never get EVERYONE to agree but you will get MOST people to agree ESPECIALLY those that 'know' about photography.)

Again - Just my

I do agree M.A. that this could indeed be an interesting podcast