Our Story

The people behind ARS

Eric Kim

Street photographer, artist philosopher, powered by eggs and meat.

Kevin McKenzie

Google cloud developer, consultant.

Cindy Nguyen

UC Berkeley Historian, poet, victim of eating too many potato chips in one sitting.

The story Behind ARS

Over dinner, good friends Eric, Kevin, and Cindy discussed our dream to build a ‘productive’ community to learn photography by giving and receiving real feedback.

We emphasize the word ‘productive’ because we do not want this platform to just be a mindless ‘consumptive’ platform. Late one night Cindy realized that she was wasting her brain power on the meaningless act of scrolling and clicking like/favorite on others’ photos. She realized that there were so many people around the world like her, who had to much to give but the platform was not conducive to channeling that feedback in a productive way.

How is ARS different from Facebook or Instagram?

The existing platforms for photographers to give and receive feedback are limited to Instagram and Facebook. However, photographers never actually receive feedback because how well a photo is “liked” is dependent on closed social media networks and popularity algorithms. In other words, currently on Instagram and Facebook the photo that you share is not evenly shared to everyone equally.

We – Eric, Kevin, and Cindy – want to change the way photography was shared, seen, and provided feedback. We aspire to revolutionize the photography community by going back to the core of photo making and photo sharing.

Thus, we built ARS. We want to make ART ours again.

ARS, Join the Movement

We’re still iterating, improving, and experimenting. Join us by beta testing ARS and provide feedback to email ArsBetaHelp@gmail.com

ARS =

MAKING ART, OURS
ART REALIZATION SYSTEM
AUTHENTIC RATING SYSTEM
ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA
A ROAD TO SEEING
ART REVOLUTION SOCIETY

We have big dreams, and so do you!

Share ARS with your friends, family, and photographers. To invest or collaborate, e-mail ArsBetaHelp@gmail.com. Help us to grow through investment, sharing the word about ARS, and reviewing ARS.

Read our Press Kit >

Please Do:

Remember the human. When you communicate online, all you see is a screen. When talking to someone you might want to ask yourself “Would I say it to the person’s face?”

Follow the golden rule. Treat others in the Community as you would want them to treat you.

Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life.

Keep your critiques relevant to the photo you are critiquing.

Use proper grammar and spelling. Not all ARS members speak English as their native language. Keeping your critiques easy to read will better help users to understand your meaningful feedback.

Leave constructive critiques. It is perfectly fine if you do not think a photo is good but in order for the uploader to improve, they need to hear why the photo is not good and how to improve. Read here how to leave a constructive critique.

Share words of genuine encouragement. If there is an aspect of a photo that you appreciate, let the user know. Positivity goes a long way.

Give your feedback by writing critiques or voting keep/ditch. By being active in the community, you help others to receive feedback. You also benefit yourself by improving your ability to read an image as well as receive points to the leaderboards.

Please Do Not:

In regard to leaving a critique

Be (intentionally) rude. By choosing not to be rude, you increase the overall civility of the community and make it better for all of us.

Insult others. Personal insults do not contribute to a rational discussion. Constructive Criticism, however, is appropriate and encouraged.

Troll. Trolling (i.e., leave critiques that are designed to provoke a negative response from one or more users). Trolling does not contribute to the user looking for constructive critiques and will result in a permanent ban from ARS.

In regard to receiving a critique

Report critiques that are valid but you do not like. Take a moment to stop, think and examine your reasons for disliking a critique. Report critiques that do not adhere to the code of conduct, rather than doing so out of an emotional reaction.