Musing July 2015

Passages

We experience many passages in our lives, many marked with celebration. My family just celebrated two such milestones: Son, Andrew, graduated with Honors from Savannah College of Art and Design (BFA in Photography); his brother, Jake, just returned from completing his Air Force ROTC Field Training. In both cases, the passage from one point in life to another was marked with a conspicuous celebration.

I’m home from teaching my Extraordinary Images in Ordinary Locations class at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. (I know, a little bit of an oxymoron considering the location.) I worked with six photographers, varying in experience from professional to serious amateur, all seeking to improve their work. There is a graduation of sorts at the end of the week. After a nice dinner off site, we watched slide shows from each workshop. Instructors were asked to give a brief talk about their class and since I knew this was coming I was able to do so in as few words as possible (another oxymoron given my penchant for teaching). Simply put I said, “I give my students lemons for locations and assignments and expect them to make lemonade.” And they did a remarkable job! We laughed and hooted and had a great time watching the work created flash on the big screen. In fact, we celebrated the work we had created.

Now what? In photography there are no easily noted milestones. The completion of a workshop brings not only new skills but renewed energy and excitement for making images. It’s easy to see the growth from the intense week but what comes next? Reid talked of the importance of maintaining contact with teachers and fellow students to keep us moving forward. It isn’t enough to say “Hi” on Facebook. He encouraged us to keep challenging each other, perhaps starting a Facebook challenge or sharing assignments. We have to keep making images to continue developing both our skill and vision and to keep the conversation growing.

As visual artists, we need to work like athletes: we have to train every day. There are no prizes for participation, no gallery exhibits simply because you take workshops or make photographs for years. To consistently make good photographs requires practice. And I mean practice with intention. Practice can feel slow and boring. Ask any athlete. If you practice without intention, just repeating what you’ve already been doing, then it is going to be mind-numbing and useless. If you go out and make the same images everyday without trying new ideas, without pushing your edges, without really thinking about what you are doing, you will bore both yourself and your audience.

So how do you practice with intention and note your improvement? I have a few suggestions:

Realize that it takes 10,000 hours to master your craft. That’s 10,000 hours of deliberate
Select your ten best images and place them where you can see them everyday (on your computer or prints on the wall are even better).
Look at the work of photographers you admire, contemporary or historic (or even better both). Know who is doing good contemporary work and who has done good work in history.
Look at work of photographers you don’t like and take time to examine it. Can you figure out why you don’t like it? Why do others say it is good? Educate yourself about the work that makes you uncomfortable, that you do not like. Understanding something you don’t like may move your work in a new direction.
Give yourself an assignment every week to photograph. Not just “go to the beach and make images” but something specific. It can be as simple as “photograph 10 people, one at a time, from no further than 3 feet away” or “starting at any point in the universe, take 12 steps in any direction. Stop and make three images. One from eye level, one from waist level and one from ground level. The take another 12 steps. Repeat”.
Review the work you make on a regular basis, weekly, monthly, and yearly. Make sure you are using your best critical eye. You have to be your own harshest critic (easy) but you also have to recognize when you your work has taken a step forward. Swap out work with the images you selected in #2.
Give yourself the greatest gift you can: the permission to do your own work. Follow your muse, make the images that only you can make.

Trust me on this: if you want to make better photographs, stop talking about making photographs and go make them. Work hard and work often. Ask for help when you can’t figure something out. Take a workshop. Create your support network. Practice with intention. In the end, you will not be disappointed by the results of your best efforts.

Have a great summer!

Tillman