[Critique by work category] Still Pictures

People often associate the word "digital arts" with images and interactive works, and either don't know or have forgotten fascinating features of still pictures. However, through this year's screening process, I was able to fully appreciate the fascination and potential of still pictures. As was the case with other people, I have taken little interest in still pictures in digital arts because of scarce variety in its orientation compared with that of images and interactive works. However, advancement in digital technology has led to diversification of orientation of still pictures, and brought about a very interesting age for this form of art. One noteworthy trend of this year was that the artistic level of young creators had improved so much that they were now capable of competing with professional creators on equal terms. Had it not been for advancement in digital technology, this could have never been possible. As for the contents, there were a group of impressive works that adopted new techniques while making full use of accumulated skills, and another group of works, which attempted to express a totally novel concept using still pictures as its medium. As a still picture section of an international contest, we found the screening process of this year fully satisfying. If I have to find some problems, the format and size of submitted works varied, and some of the works seemed to have failed to demonstrate their content to the fullest due to these more superficial reasons. In order to display the optimal strength of each artwork, I hope applicants will give due consideration to these physical factors as well. Sometimes, just one still picture moves people more than a video picture that lasts over one hour. The screening this time afforded us an encounter with many such still pictures.