In 2014 I wrote that all my projects were long term projects because it takes me such a long time to go from photography in the field to a finished project in the form of (a) web folio, (b) print folio and (c) exhibition print. In fact, the only time in recent memory that I have been “up to date” with my projects is that year and a half when I was “in transition” between my two last jobs. There is hope that when I retire and stop ”Workin’ for The Man” I will be able keep current with photographic projects. It can take from a weekend to two years to get from start to a completed project. It’s not unusual to take a year to do a project.
At any time, I have about six projects in various stages of completion. Some are just ideas, some have the artist statement completed, some are being edited, others have partially completed software work, and some are waiting to be printed or added to my web site.
The big question for those of us that work on projects is how to maintain enthusiasm throughout a very long project cycle. People “of a certain age” do remember being told that “stick-to-it-iveness” was a virtue that allowed you to accomplish great things. I think that the key element of enthusiasm is not for the project itself, but for photography. How I feel about each project changes as I go through the project. Some I like, some I like more than others, but each project is fueled by my enthusiasm for photography. The project is the manifestation of your love and commitment to the photographic process.
This photograph is one of the Academy Street Photographs, a project that has been ongoing for over thirty-five years.
Now that I have a "post career lifestyle" I am now farther behind completing projects than I was when I was working. The ever increasing backlog of projects to be completed is the result of me having a lot more time to devote to finding new projects among the images I have in my Lightroom database. The enthusiasm has not waned.
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