Monochrome

Jan

2011

My Artistic Goals for 2011

photo courtesy of Angela J. Miller

It is a new year, this 2011, and transitions such as the new year are a natural time during which to reassess and plan for the future. Many people at this time make resolutions. I like to do something similar in that I like to create goals for myself.

You see, my training in psychology has helped me understand it is more beneficial to move toward something one might want than to resist something one might not want. Resolutions are fine, but without goals, concrete goals, they are much more challenging to achieve. Sometimes a simple shift in semantics is all that is needed: “by July 31 I will be smoke free” rather than “I want to stop smoking.” The former denotes a movement toward a new state of being; the latter denotes a resistance toward a current behavior.” Resistance creates stress; movement has energy, life, and a sense of possibility. With this in mind I have created a list of achievable goals for this photographic year as well as the reasons behind them.

I am also posting this online, to the interwebs, to the world, to hold me accountable. Goals have a greater chance of success if held accountable to someone else. I know, I’m only accountable ultimately to myself, but it makes a difference to me to have stated these goals publicly, in a perhaps shaky voice. Here they are:

Create three Blurb Photobooks. I admit, I may be cheating a bit here as I just uploaded one yesterday, but I am motivated to create different outlets than usual for my photography . Some smaller, coffee table, books for my home and office would be great, as well as a notebook or two. I have ideas bouncing around like ping-pong balls in my head, so they need to come out.
Enter three prints in gallery shows. Either by approaching galleries, coffee shops, bars, etc., myself, or joining other photographers in a small show, I intend to hang at least 3 prints in the public eye. I’m doing this because I want to make sure I plan out a direction, apply some foresight, develop the endurance to see it through, and enjoy the final presentation. It’s scary to me and perhaps that is why I should do it.
Enter at least one print in a juried competition. Friends have entered their work at the state fair competition and annual NM photographer competitions and I have admired their courage. I want some of that for myself. Guess how you get it? Plus, I think the feedback I might receive, positive or negative, will be helpful in pushing my photography forward.
Complete a photographic project for someone else. Last year I shot my brother’s production plant and it was one of the hardest photographic challenges. Working for someone else’s expectations photographically is not something I like to do. This challenge will either confirm that I’m not a photographer for hire, or it will push me to develop and trust my skills and instincts so I can do so successfully. I hope the latter happens.
Support another artist. I love that art exists and therefore I need to support it’s process. That being said, I intend to give to the artistic community locally by either providing some needed photographic work for free, teaching a skill, developing something creatively in conjunction with the artist, etc. It’s about giving back. It’s time.
Learn more about black and white photography. I just love black and white photography and want to use it more purposefully. So this year I intend to read at least 2 books about black and white photographic technique and theory as well as spend at least one solid month shooting solely in black and white.
Post at least 100 blog posts over the course of the year. That’s about 2 posts a week. That’s not a lot in blogging terms but my goal is consistency and good content so I hope to follow through and surpass this number.
Do photography for fun. I listened to business manager Corwin Hiebert’s interview on a podcast by Faded & Blurred the other day and he reminded me of why I picked up a camera in the first place. I admit, I got a bit sidetracked by wanting to succeed. The unfortunate thing is that in order to define success it is easy to fall into the trap of quantifying success, and that leads to trying to make money(dollars being wonderful quantifiers). So now, having realized I fell into that trap a bit, I intend to remember that I do photography for the love of telling and seeing a visual story.
Lose ten pounds. I know, this doesn’t seem photography related. But if I attempt to separate photography from who I am and how I feel, both about my environment and myself, then I’m not doing so good. The extra 10 pounds make me feel crummy. I want to be leaner; it will reflect in my images. I’m going to lose 10 pounds.

How about you? Do you have photographic goals for the year? Is there something you want to do with your photography?; something/one/where you would like to photograph? Some aspect of photography you would like to learn?

Dec

2010

Feeling Your Way Through Art

I have become more critical of my photographic work lately. Much more critical. I don’t mean self-critical in the way that many of us become thinking “this sucks. I’m never going to be any good at it.”–though those thoughts do creep in from time to time like they do for most of us. Instead I mean more discerning about what I would like to say with my photographs. If photography can be a visual language, then what am I going to use my voice for?

You see, I feel I have become a decent snapshot-ist. I can take some pretty pictures of people and places. I can make memorable images (at least to me and my family) of my vacations and events that are important to us. But this medium has the ability to do so much more and I would like to do that. I don’t know how, yet. But the process appears to have begun; I’ve become more critical of my work.

So how do I know if I am on track with an image? Well, it has to feel right. If images are a visual language, feelings are the receptor for that language. My hope is to move others with my photography, and in order to accomplish this the core message of the images needs to be emotional in nature. As a result the first question I need to ask myself when viewing newly created is, “what is this image about?” The thing to keep in mind is that the subject and the subject matter of a photograph are different things. The subject matter is the “stuff” in the frame of the image: the chairs, lights, raindrops, people, places, etc. The subject is what that “stuff”, represented in that way, is pointing toward: an emotion; a theme. The photographer will be aware of the difference while the snapshot-ist may not, at least not cognitively.

Knowing that images are processed in the right hemisphere of the brain and are therefore pre-verbal, perhaps even beyond verbal, can be helpful in discovering the subject of any individual photograph. When making an image I have begun to ask myself “what is this image about?” and attempting to answer that question with short, one or two word descriptions: love; joy; hope; loss; transcendence; rage; resistance; innocence; growth; change; jealousy; peace or whatever. While also helpful in encouraging my emotional literacy, this exercise is also helpful in making me attentive to my internal reaction to an external representation. This reaction of mine might be similar to someone else’s internal emotional response to the same image.

To put it another way, I have become aware that photography is a way for me to communicate my understanding of my experience in this world with others. While I have been able to do so successfully with family and close friends (ie: those with similarly shared experiences) I am longing to communicate with others outside my own house, per se. So I need to get more specific and universal with my languaging.

Can you see why I’ve become pickier? It is not easy to do. Yet, like most things worthwhile, it is valuable to do so.

How have you been pushing the envelope of your visual language and therefore of your creativity? I would love to know.