Postcards from the Creative Journey

Free Form Anxiety

Kitchen, Ansorge Hotel

Here are a bunch of mini-rants. None of these are worth a full blown rant, but just some mildly annoying things about contemporary photography. I am old enough now that I can be crotchety without guilt.

If you want to show me your photographs show me good craft. Please don't show me out of focus, blurred and faded photographs made at “the indecisive moment.” I would like to know that you know you are “breaking the rules” and are not just completely clueless and sloppy about photography. Before you decide to color outside the lines, show me you can color inside the lines. Then, afterwards, you can color outside the lines only when such rule breaking supports your predetermined artistic intent.

Show me something I haven’t seen before. If I have already seen it (and I probably have) show it to me in a way that is new or different. Be creative. Isn’t that the function of an artist? You can do your compulsories and homage all you like. We all do them, but some photographs should not be shared. Show the world something different.

Show me something positive. I want to see something that shows goodness. Have you ever stopped to take notice that so many photographic projects concentrate on what’s wrong instead of what’s right with the world? Chris Burkett’s success as a photographer is based on the premise that people want to “own” a view of a beautiful place. There is something magic about beauty that calms the mind and soul.

A bunch of mini- rants does the same thing. I feel better now.

 

On Being Photographic

Something's in the Kitchen,

Curlew, Washington

There is a gap between aspiration and performance that drives some of us to do better in a chosen activity. The key to becoming skilled in any creative process is not to read about it, but to practice the skills you want to do. Athletes train according to a schedule. Authors write every day. Musicians play music every day. Painters paint every day. How often do you photograph?

Well, umm, err, ah, well…

No, I would wager that not all of us pull the camera out every day and crack off a couple of hundred exposures unless we are professional photojournalists. If it’s just not possible to make photographs every day with your camera, you should be able to exercise your vision on a daily basis. If you can’t photograph daily, can you look for photographs daily? As you drive by that cool old house on your way to work have you thought about what type of photograph you could make when the light was right and you had your camera? Do you change your position when talking to people so you can see them against a pleasing background? Do you critique pictures you see in books, magazines or on the internet?

Until you can get you, your camera, that cool old house and the right light in one spot together and be a photographer, then be photographic instead.

The Best Time for an Idea.

Sleeping Porch, Old Kentucky Home

Asheville, NC

"The older you get, the harder it is to be creative without large swathes of peace, quiet and solitude to sustain you. Or maybe that's just me?" This question was posed by Hugh McLeod (of “How to be Creative” fame) on his blog a few years back. I have always held this close to my heart because it is just as important for me not to work as it is to work. The mind needs its' time to process the complex thoughts and influences that make great ideas. Quiet times and solitary places are perfect for that.

Relaxation and time “away from it all” are truly important to let all the turbulent things in life to settle out and clarify what really is important. This is especially true in the creative realm. In the quiet times the ideas that have been incubating in your subconscious will come to the surface because they don’t have to fight through all the niff naff and petty annoyances that are part of our daily life.

Inspirations or solutions come to me early in the morning, often as I am waking up. Ideas awaken when I do. It’s a refreshing way to start the day, with a good idea for a project, an approach to a problem to be solved, or a great idea for a photograph. When is your best time for a new idea?

Which Way to Look?

"Deus qui humanae substantiae"

Cataldo Mission State Park, Idaho

I am a forward looking person. Past work is history. It may or may not be relevant to my current project. I also don’t like to go back and look at old projects. Once I do that I will pick them apart and judge them by my current standards. I wind up making myself feel like a fraud for passing off less than stellar work. They were the best I had at the time, but as I grow as an artist, fewer and fewer of my old photographs pass muster when I look at them now. My old photos do not interest me.

I want to get on to the next photograph, the next project, the next portfolio and make it technically better and emotionally deeper than the last one. It’s the quest to do something new, to push your creative self to make something better. It’s having the courage to let go of the last good photograph and move on to the next challenge.

I can’t wait to see what I do next.

 

The Image is the Thing

 
Shearing Sheep with Melvin

from Melvin

(scroll down on that page)

Over at The Online Photographer Blog there was a whole bunch of heat and light on the question of archival materials for photographs. I didn’t want to invest too much time on a very lengthy discussion because my thoughts on archival materials are well, archival. I have always felt that if you purchase and use the best materials and follow the directions for proper photographic processing, the photographs will last longer than you do. If the photograph lasts longer than you do, it’s archival.

I have never worried too much about archival processing. I have always thought the Image is the thing. The emphasis should be on creating an image that is worthy of archival treatment. Exceptional effort should be expended on the creation of an image so good people now and in the future will be moved by your image. A timeless image that speaks to the human condition will be worthy of archival treatment. Rather than worry about the paper we should obsess about the real issue at hand; making your image worthy of the finest archival materials. If we put that much effort into creating better images rather than debating the fine points of archival preservation, I think we would have a lot more images that are worthy of archival materials and processes.