Back in February, my friends Dave, David, and I attended a workshop called “The Passionate Photographer” led by Steve Simon. I haven’t blogged about the workshop at all, not because I’ve been busy but because I wanted to do justice to the experience. What I heard and learned from Steve wasn’t so much brand new as it was re-affirming, solidifying, and clarifying what has been running through my head for quite a while now. Today I want to share one idea that stuck with me and that I have been thinking about since our day with Steve. It aligns with the recent launch of Rear Curtain and that is the notion of having one project over a length of time.
Steve’s advice is based on the idea that the sum is greater than the parts. Finding a story or a theme you can work on will take you to places you’ve never been to before, photographically speaking. Working with one idea or story is like peeling the layers of an onion and as you do so, your life experiences will enrich your photography. You make images each time you go out to shoot for your story and over time, the good images are replaced by better images until eventually you have a cohesive body of work that explores the theme in a way that just cannot be done in a week or even in a month. What you finally share with everyone will be the culmination of thousands of images distilled into the strongest ones–or as Steve said “behind each image are 800 others”. Those images collected together and presented in one project will express your passion in way that others can clearly see and feel.
There is a quote by Diane Arbus which goes something like this: “The more specific you are, the more general it’ll be.“I think this is why projects like the ones Steve described will resonate with people. If you focus on one thing and explore it until you are ready to abandon it, more people will find themselves in your work. Perhaps when we touch things only on the surface, we miss the opportunity to connect more deeply with our subject and our audience. That results in work that might be nice to look at but not images that keep people coming back to experience them again and again.
An example of a really long term project is Larry Towell’s “The World From My Front Porch“. The images in this book were selected from a period of over twenty years following his family life in northern Ontario and I believe it also includes images from his journeys away from home. His overall work follows themes of land and belonging that are reflected in this extensive visual autobiography. In his project “America at the Edge“, Steve Simon explores the cities and towns in the US states that share a border with Canada. The idea for this project came to him after reading that the US and Canada were very similar and becoming much more alike. If I’m not mistaken, the images in this piece of work were made over a period of a year.
My goal is to do a piece of work that extends over a period of time; I’m not sure how long that period of time will be. All I have is this urge to explore something deeper and do more meaningful work than what I’ve done so far. The images today are sketches, something that might be part of that long term project although I’m not sure this idea has legs. (yes Charlene, I know I need more than just two!) There are other ideas rolling around in my head and I’m certain one of them will take root and be the onion to which Steve referred. How about you? Have you thought of a longer term project? Do you have an idea or theme you’d like to explore in depth? If you do, I’d love to hear about it or better yet, I’d love to see you submit your work to Rear Curtain when you’re ready.
P.S. A big thank to you Dave who first mentioned Steve’s workshop to me and urged me to attend. If you have a chance to go, I would highly recommend it.
This resonates with one of the key points I took away from Craig Tanner’s Next Step workshop in Savannah a few weeks ago. He was encouraging us to find meaningful photo projects and to pursue them, not only because it will free us from the tyranny of constantly trying to make a new, different, great shot with every photo, but because it’s way to find meaning and fulfillment.
He didn’t talk about duration of time but it’s an excellent point.
I have tried (unsuccessfully) to shoot to a set of themes in the past. It ended up being a constraint and I seemed to see all these beautiful pictures that were anything *but* one of the themes I had identified–and I was stupid enough not to take the shots. So it didn’t take long until my subconscious got the message and stopped seeing anything at all.
I made several mistakes with this attempt, and I think it’s important to list them as advice about what not to do when pursuing a project:
(1) I chose the themes by analyzing what I had been shooting up to that point and putting my photos into categories. I then reasoned that I must be interested in those things so I tried to focus on that. I didn’t do it for passion but from analysis. It seems absolutely moronic when I write it down like this, but it obviously didn’t seem like it at the time.
(2) I set no boundaries on the themes and didn’t structure them like a project at all with some kind of goal. It was just a general set of subjects that I would shoot forever, I suppose.
(3) The themes were very broad and had all kinds of room in them to fit lots of photos.
There’s more that I did wrong, but I think these are the main points.
Don’t be so hard on yourself, Tommy. There is no wrong in my books just learning from experiences along the way. I do love how willing you are to share those experiences–that tells me how open you are to learning. I truly believe that when one seeks as earnestly as you are doing, you will be rewarded. I can’t wait to see the results when you make the break-through!
You’re short of the minimum 3 as it is
Am having a good long think about long term projects at the moment, while I am looking for my project collaborator (as you know), and I feel a blog post coming about this too.
I love that top photo muchly. For the bokeh (mmmm bokeh), for the composition, and that it totally brings me back to the hustle and bustle of a fish market. What sort of fish are they in both photos?
Hey, I’ve improved 100%. Up from one image to two
I’m ashamed to say I don’t know what the fish are in the first image but it’s salmon in the second one. I guess that means I’m going back to find out!
And yes, we are waiting for some sign of that long term project you’ve been working on but I know you can’t rush these things. A blog post in the mean time should satisfy the hungry hounds…for now.
You’re not getting off that lightly missy! You set a new standard with this post: http://sabrinahenry.com/2011/04/01/filling-the-well/
Aww, don’t be ashamed. I just wanted to know cause they look tasty. Another thing I love about these photos: the texture. I can almost feel the wetness of the fish, slippery but not slimy, cool from being iced, but not frozen cold.
Great, turning into Gollum: “give it to us raw and wrrrrrrigling!”
Making some headway on the project, i think. Will need to wait a bit more to see if it’s real. Keep you posted, both ways
Much appreciation to you for chronicling your journey in photography. Goodness knows, the rest of us have benefited from it greatly, in so many ways, as well.
I have a couple of projects I am working on. One of them is “Paths of Potential” – images exploring the extremely difficult (scary, dangerous, almost non-existent) paths in rural and remote areas that connect tiny villages and their people (I live in China) with the wider world. I have a number of images and can continue to add to the collection. My problem now though is – how to make them meaningful? How to make them express what I want them to?
First I want to echo Charlene’s last sentence in her reply above!
Second, this is what I have been trying to come up with for a long time and have finally found my first long-term project it seems, to be started very soon. Since I haven’t started it yet I don’t really want to share too much at this point but will do in the near future hopefully.
For me when you look at the best photographers, even street photographers, you realize they don’t just go out to make pictures they go out to explore a theme or a story. These things don’t take a day, or a week, or a month to build upon, they take longer. I think that realization was the key to me slowing down this year and working more on finding those themes I want to work on. By exploring them deeply you will become a better photographer.
What you got from Steve Simon, who by the way is up there as one of those mentor photographers I would love to have the chance to work with, is what I will be looking for at Foundry this summer.
wow, Sabrina, these images are so great, I can almost smell them!
- such an interesting discussion. My ideas for long-term projects have come in retrospect as I find intriguing commonalities that I might want to add to. It’s interesting to consider planning a long-term project in advance.
@Tommy -I love how you learn from your work. Thanks for sharing what you’ve learned.
Thanks for this Sabrina, I need a reminder to be patient! I am too often rushing into photos and projects without clearly thinking the concept through and then I don’t get to the real “middle” of it.
Love this line: “What you finally share with everyone will be the culmination of thousands of images distilled into the strongest ones…” it is so true. Keep up the great work!
Ditto to what Charlene said about chronicling your journey Sabrina. Honestly stumbling upon your blog was like finding a pearl and it made me rethink few aspects of my photography – that’s for sure.
The idea of long term project and pursuit of the visual stories for it is really close to me. I’ve done it to some extent in the past but i’d love to explore this approach further and deeper with earlier experiences and the new acquired knowledge. I got few ideas in my mind also, one being to pick another city and dig into it as i did with Cracow. My upcoming trip to Paris may be the start of something like that although the more i think about this the more i feel like i should fixate on specific theme than the city itself – we’ll see.
Anyway i know one thing about projects like this – they require from photographer big chunk of quality time to understand slice of the world we’re trying to portray; to discover it’s little nuances and shades. Without it there’s no intimacy with the project and no way of getting to the surface where lies it’s hidden beauty, it’s essence and real strength.
I’m thrilled to hear that You are willing to start such a commitment because i know for sure the outcome will be great (as i saw your dog images from the workshop just now – and those were only from a short time perspective!) Have fun on another photographic journey of yours Sabrina !
Thanks for the kind words, Radek. The things I am enjoying the most about blogging is how I am a part of others’ journeys as well including your own. I’m excited to hear about your exhibit and your new adventures and looking forward to seeing your sketches.