ARTicles, published by the National Arts Journalism Program (NAJP) at Columbia University, is a compilation of essays written by members of the NAJP Fellowship Program. Each year, we review the theme and submissions with the editorial staff to discuss possible solutions both graphically and financially. This year’s theme, “Critic,” presents the creative, complex and often tumultuous relationship between critics and the audience of readers, artists, sometime neighbors and hosts from the world that they review. We proposed the creation of an “everyman” critic/character to represent a humorous, reflective and sincere image of the opinions and occupational hazards endured by these contributors. After presenting ideas to our client, we commissioned Matthew Septimus to photograph the main body of images in this journal.