Why do I care?

I have wanted to "do photography" for many years. I remember being fascinated by the strange numbers on the lenses of the old film cameras that I used to see in my grandmothers garage (they belonged to my dead grandfather). When I got a bit older I got an old box brownie (second hand) but we couldn't afford to get the photos printed. I used to use that camera to pretend to take pictures.
Fast forward to today. I can afford a digital camera and a selection of lenses and other gear, and I am taking more photos than ever before. Sometimes I even think I've got a keeper.

Now, I am not a "joiner" - I don't join clubs unless they have a purpose relevant to what I need ( I was a member of several Chess clubs, when I fancied myself as a decent Chess player - now the goddamn GNU Chess programs beats me all the time!) and I have never joined a sports club or Gym or for more than a few weeks ( all that sweat and effort! ).

But I have joined a photography club.
And I put my pictures in to be judged in the local "League" competition.
And inevitably they get panned - sometimes on technical grounds, but mostly on "artistic grounds".
And that's fair enough, for the technical reasons.

But what most annoys me is the "artistic grounds". We all know that beauty/art/whatever is in the eye of the beholder, and my head tells me that the judge is applying his criteria and his experience to a picture, and that it is nothing personal, but my gut tells me the bastard doesn't know what he is talking about.

And you know what - both reactions are correct!

My head is right - it is not personal - from the judges point of view, and my gut is right - it is very personal to me.

So, the bottom line is, I learn from the technical critique, and I get an insight into what another person thinks of my pictures "artistically" - and if I ever want to improve my pictures "artistically" according to someone elses criteria, then I can. But I won't. It's my "artistic" vision and I will continue to follow it. It might be judged to be crap by the world, but it says something to me ( and about me, for all I know!).
If you are going to "do photography" for your pleasure, then do it the way you want.