Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A Little Retrospective
So it's day 296 today, and I'm feeling a little retrospective with 69 days to go. Without getting too much of my artist-wank on (where did I put my beret?...)
I've been thinking about this project and what it's taught me and such things. When I started, I thought this project was about motivation - denying yourself the excuse to not take that photo you see because you don't think it will come out well, or it's too much effort, or it's just kinda pointless. This was meant to cut through that, and it has. But recently, I was reading a book that got me thinking about it in a different way. Art is meant to be produced in great quantity, and that doing so is not just playing lottery. That placing an emphasis on quality over quantity is to ultimately stop progressing. After all, the key to quality is experience and expertise. Which only comes from a good deal of practice.
My point is not that I think I'm just trying to churn out photos, but that I feel like the project is letting me progress in a very different manner to what I expected. I wondered in the past if I was better off trying to do one really polished photo a week - I may still take that up in the future, but I'm very glad I opted to do a 365 project instead.
Working with film has been really, really interesting so far. I haven't done much digital work at all since I've picked it up seriously, and I'm ok with that for the minute. I'm not near a final judgement on it, but I will say a few things about it. It feels very different to have your pictures be produced as a physical thing straight away. It has required me to be a lot more meticulous with my workflow than digital ever did. And it has made it a lot more interesting to look back at some 'master' photographers of the past, because it has given me a far greater sense of the processes they use and such.
Anyways, after my update today I was feeling a little retrospective, so there you go. Some photographic thoughts for the day.
I've been thinking about this project and what it's taught me and such things. When I started, I thought this project was about motivation - denying yourself the excuse to not take that photo you see because you don't think it will come out well, or it's too much effort, or it's just kinda pointless. This was meant to cut through that, and it has. But recently, I was reading a book that got me thinking about it in a different way. Art is meant to be produced in great quantity, and that doing so is not just playing lottery. That placing an emphasis on quality over quantity is to ultimately stop progressing. After all, the key to quality is experience and expertise. Which only comes from a good deal of practice.
My point is not that I think I'm just trying to churn out photos, but that I feel like the project is letting me progress in a very different manner to what I expected. I wondered in the past if I was better off trying to do one really polished photo a week - I may still take that up in the future, but I'm very glad I opted to do a 365 project instead.
Working with film has been really, really interesting so far. I haven't done much digital work at all since I've picked it up seriously, and I'm ok with that for the minute. I'm not near a final judgement on it, but I will say a few things about it. It feels very different to have your pictures be produced as a physical thing straight away. It has required me to be a lot more meticulous with my workflow than digital ever did. And it has made it a lot more interesting to look back at some 'master' photographers of the past, because it has given me a far greater sense of the processes they use and such.
Anyways, after my update today I was feeling a little retrospective, so there you go. Some photographic thoughts for the day.
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