Every Picture Is a Compromise
Lessons from the Also-rans
Most photography websites show the photographer's very best work. Wonderful. But that's not the full story of a creative life. If we want to learn, we'd better pay attention to the images that aren't "greatest hits" and see what lessons they have to offer. Every picture is a compromise — the sum of its parts, optical, technical, visual, emotional, and even cosmic – well, maybe not cosmic, but sometimes spiritual. Success on all fronts is rare. It's ok to learn from those that are not our best.
This is a series about my also-rans, some of which I've been able to improve at bit (i.e., "best effort"), none of which I would consider my best. With each there are lessons worth sharing, so I will.
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Original digital capture
What I saw that I liked:A small town on the coast of Japan, Rikuzen Tomiyama. Little did I know that two years after photographing here, it would be wiped out by the tsunami of 2011. Here is a short video I made here. What I don't like in the picture:I photograph buildings far too often. It's the people I should be photographing. What I learned:I remember precisely the moment of these photographs. I screwed up my courage and walked into the building and started photographing. No one kicked me out, in fact no one said a word to me. Looking back on it, I don't know why I was so intimidated. This is often the case. 2nd Chances: NoneI wonder if these people survived the tsunami. |
