Knowing when, Knowing how

If you are like me, you have that ever annoying questioning of am I in the place I should be and how to proceed. First of all, there are a million different ways to arrive at artistry; a million ways to market, sell, and so on. Anyone who has already arrived there will say persistence, determination, and struggle are what to expect. Long hours, lots of bad art for the rare gems. If that isn't a deterrent, then maybe the financial insecurity will be the decider. Beyond that you can create or move above the myriad of mountains that can be on your path. And that is the key: this is your path that can be different than my path.

My path or direction into photography seems some what illogical and unstable some days. I have friends beyond my years who are master artists who struggle. I look at other artists who are successful and once thought I need to to what they do to make money in photography. I have come to understand the flaw in that thought is 'I need to do what they do.' I need to do what I need to do. What others do successfully or not is mute. I am speaking conceptually not to say I would be opposed to following another's business plan or marketing idea; nor would I ever stop looking at others works or researching.  What is most significant to me is what I do and the integrity of how I create.

Still life Challenges Every Artist

My new creative pursuit in photography is to master the art of visual perception. For the past year or so, my mentor, George, has challenged me with arranging and photographing a still life. To the laymen's ears, this pursuit maybe deemed too simple or copying what the Master painters already did perfectly. The inevitable question arises: is photography art? I suppose the answer simply depends on the person inquired. I, of course, believe photography is art. My art; digital photography and art is a new realm that challenges the current postmodernists who lay claim to knowing the difference between 'real art' and non-art(for lack of a better word). My personal view looks at the whole work incorporating both the contextual, the technique, and finished piece display and all. Art is because the creative authentically produces work with the 'magic' that viewers encounter grabbed by a feeling from the work.

Many, many days I have spent in my small studio arranging and rearranging objects that initially copied Cezanne, eventually incorporating my favorite objects that represent a piece of me. Now, I copying a Master like Cezanne is possible in Photoshop, but I was not interested in sitting for hours manipulating. I mean hours. I wanted to create with my camera and my knowledge of my equipment and experimenting. I have mountains of paper sketches that could keep a Mainer warm through most of the winter. I yelled into empty space. The simple act of still life creation became an obsession. Add that to my unyielding path to become a Master Photographer and months later, I feel I have found that indeed my photography is art.
All challengers are welcome to stop by the studio and have a hand at arranging.

What makes a photograph art and who says so?

Over the weekend I went to a lecture by one of my favorite photographers. Rarely, do I attend these kinds of things except when the Palm Beach Photographic Center has their seasonal lectures over the winter months. Although, they are now located in downtown West Palm Beach with their grande opening around the corner. I can't wait for them to open so I can get a shot of culture (photography). Us lonely photographers do not necessarily lead that romantic life so many perceive. Just as the man I went to the Boca Museum to listen to. I have to plug this in premising that I have no association with the Museum at all; that said, their permanent photography collection on the 2nd floor was a wonderful surprise. A place I will return to when I want (need) to be among friends. Where looking is listening, stillness like a long exposure, and a return to self.

So, here I am in a small room with young and old listening to Clyde Butcher talk about his work, entitled, "America the Beautiful," and his overall process from capture to print. If you are new to Clyde's work, he uses large format (8x10 and larger) camera; BW negs, which he develops, and then contact prints, followed by the edited scans to the computer thru Photoshop and out. His cameras are beautiful. As a photographer, the photograph is not just the view: it is the whole process-the camera, image development, special processes, paper, inks, chemistry, enlarger, printer, matting, frames, floating.....4-ply, 8-ply...plexi or glass. To me, that is a photograph. All those pieces wrapped up in hours of sweating, frustration, redo's, and successes mixed with the authentic presence of the artist (ie. originality, individuality) equal a photograph. The artist creates and says...

And I am listening to him speak when I realized that I should be paying more attention and effort to doing my work. Clyde and Niki are models of doing their passion. My intuition needs a good kick to really incorporate the technical stuff from schooling with my vision. So, I have been defining my vision. My work, my art is because I am.

The Office Space Motions

Today is unusually quiet. I am in my "office" before 9am, at the computer doing the motions: emails, checking links, and reading up on the TImes, my favorite blogs, and photo industry trade news. I never make it to the end of my list by the day's end. Trying not to be such a perfectionist, I time line and prioritize. Now, I hope I am not bursting anyone's perception of what a photographer actually does when running a business. Generally, I feel as though duct tape is holding the realm all together for me. Anxiously, I cross words off a list that is piled on top of another list, which I hope has the same words as the list in my hand.

I do get technical and prioritize because otherwise I would be lost between the obnoxious piles of laundry, toys, and emails. How would dinner get made if I wasn't sure to calculate the time to cook, what's on PBS for kids (I am not afraid to say that a little TV gives me a few moments to scurry.), and hitting the print button on the computer. Somedays I wish I could a cross between Curious George and Mary Popins. Heck-throw in some Julie Andrews! Then, I could sing, which only my sister has a talent for not me.

And here I sit going through the motions of scouting out my lists, thinking of marketing ideas, who to network with, finding venues for grant money or juried show, and visualizing how my conservation photography can impact the daily routines of Floridians. I sip my coffee with intent and click on with my morning. In the distance I can hear the Osprey's calling one another, most likely talking about the fishing today. I'd need a pretty long lens to get a great image; so for now, I am just going to listen.

The Printing Process in My Studio

The act of photographing is step one; processing is step two; printing is step three; producing a work of mastery is step four.

I have been going from image to "Processing" in Photoshop to proofing to... ahhhh... the final achievement with a print. I find this tedious time on the computer requires as much breathing (if not more) than during the actual capture process. Some images are easy requiring a curve adjustment here, and gradient there; those other images that I fall in love with for concept, but require some tricks of the trade and tweaking. Here's where technical stuff and experimenting really require your attention. Blessed with the undo button, I am always testing the limits of the image. How far can I push? Where did I need to focus attention to really get the viewers attention? How do I manipulate, without "changing" (i.e.. manipulation beyond a visual limit that redefines the image as non-traditional.) the image? How can I adjust for the viewers perception? It can all be very scientific incorporating how the brain perceives, processing information from the eye to the brain. Understanding tonalities, gradations of values, contrast are all crucial elements in understanding and producing a photographic print.

For me, the simpler the better. I miss the hours of dim light in the darkroom. Even the smells. My favorite part of the darkroom printing is emerging into daylight to examine test strips and then examine the actual print. All very metaphorical. Now in my own digital darkroom, I am surrounded by power chords, firewire's, USB's, and boxes of paper (of various size and type). I have a special daylight bulb I examine under. The process is the similar to my days as a student in the darkroom. I hope I still maintain my creative risks as I did in the beginning of my photography while the maturity of Mastery is evident in my prints. Of course, I have taken the time to learn with Photoshop pro's, printing workshops, and friends.