Vision and Projects
Wellington Buildings #32
Recently I went down to Wellington with a friend to introduce them to the kind of architectural photography I enjoy. After we had spent a while wandering the streets, the topic of where to next came up. It’s a real issue in photography. We have all been there, thinking what do I do next. What should I photograph? What genre?
“But have you ever sat down and really tried to define what that uniqueness is? How it motivates your creativity?”
Last week I got a newsletter from Helen McLeod titled “The Importance of Finding Your Photography Style” which follows along the same lines. In the newsletter she posed this question “But have you ever sat down and really tried to define what that uniqueness is? How it motivates your creativity? And how it shows up in the photographs you take? Even coming up with three words that define who we are as photographers can be daunting...Who was I within the space of my photography, and who did I want to become?” Before I go further if you want to sign up to Helen’s newsletter head on over to her website at https://www.2-galleries.com/, it’s a great read and something I look forward to.
“Good photos come from being in the right place at the right time, a passerby can get lucky just being there by accident, better photos come from within”
Photography in the beginning is as much a technical challenge as an artistic one. Where we focus on the 5%, the settings, learning the camera, and how to process the images afterwards. We may start shooting in one genre because it gives us pleasure, or because other friends enjoy it. When I asked this question to another friend years ago they told me this “Good photos come from being in the right place at the right time, better photos come from within”, something I have never forgotten.
What is the difference between snapshots and art? When the images you create are an expression of you, of the uniqueness that Helen is talking about. Forget the Instagram or Facebook likes, what do you care about, what amazes you, what stirs an emotion. As Helen says “Even coming up with three words that define who we are as photographers can be daunting”! But daunting doesn’t make it impossible. Give it a try? It might take you a night, a week or even longer but it’s a great exercise.
What would be my three(ish) words….. here goes Balance…. no simplicity… filtering out the distractions….something like that, calm / peaceful, visual confusion… something that gets the brain asking questions.
“Projects develop your vision and vision develops your projects”
So why did I call this post “Vision and Projects”? Because I think the two are so interwoven that they may be fundamentally linked. The last couple of years I have been thinking about how the various genres and projects I shoot may come from the same route source. What do they all share? Each project seemed to go off in different directions, how could they be linked? I guess I was considering where I am in them. Surrealism, Landscape, Aviation, Black and White, Long Exposure and Infrared, that covers quite a breadth of topics. But through giving myself license to explore these in projects, I can see my vision change.
I can see now that those few words I would use to describe how I see and express myself in one project, may apply to how I see in other projects. Like looking at the same object from different vantage points, I can see more clearly what is unique in the way I see, and what fascinates me. There is a phrase in research, to copy from one person is plagiarism, to copy from many is research. I think I get what they mean. Give it a try, try a short term project or be bold and try a couple, you never know where it might lead.
The image above is part of my Wellington building exploration / fascination / project, if you want to see more of these you will find the gallery here https://www.makephotography.net/wellingtonarchitecture
