Chris Kresser recently posted some interesting questions and comments about integrating photography with one's daily life.
Chris wrote:
"I just read the Ben Lifson essay "Everything is Subject and Kicking Off Your Shoes". It resonated with me deeply, and I found myself nodding my head in agreement all the way through. Early in the essay he says:
Quote from Ben Lifson:
"Our busy, time-consuming and important careers and our important family commitments often make us photograph only intermittently, when we can find time and as subject matter either comes our way or, as is often the case, we travel to it, sometimes quite far. But this is not the best road to good pictures and our growth as picture makers."
This is becoming more and more true for me. I have little time these days for "dedicated photography", and likely will not for the next 2-3 years due to work and other commitments. The result so far has been that I've stopped making photographs. And that's not good.
Ben's essay inspired me to come up with some project ideas that are more closely integrated with my daily life. Rather than choosing subject matter that requires me to travel to a location away from home, which I can't seem to find time for now (even if it's in the same town!), perhaps I should focus more on what is right there in front of me every day."
and also:
"I just haven't figured out how to do it yet in a satisfying way. I find that I produce much better work and get more satisfaction out of working within a project-based context. So I suppose what I need to do is come up with some ideas for projects that involve subject matter at home, at work, or on the way back and forth between the two."
Let's continue that discussion in this thread.
Chris wrote:
"I just read the Ben Lifson essay "Everything is Subject and Kicking Off Your Shoes". It resonated with me deeply, and I found myself nodding my head in agreement all the way through. Early in the essay he says:
Quote from Ben Lifson:
"Our busy, time-consuming and important careers and our important family commitments often make us photograph only intermittently, when we can find time and as subject matter either comes our way or, as is often the case, we travel to it, sometimes quite far. But this is not the best road to good pictures and our growth as picture makers."
This is becoming more and more true for me. I have little time these days for "dedicated photography", and likely will not for the next 2-3 years due to work and other commitments. The result so far has been that I've stopped making photographs. And that's not good.
Ben's essay inspired me to come up with some project ideas that are more closely integrated with my daily life. Rather than choosing subject matter that requires me to travel to a location away from home, which I can't seem to find time for now (even if it's in the same town!), perhaps I should focus more on what is right there in front of me every day."
and also:
"I just haven't figured out how to do it yet in a satisfying way. I find that I produce much better work and get more satisfaction out of working within a project-based context. So I suppose what I need to do is come up with some ideas for projects that involve subject matter at home, at work, or on the way back and forth between the two."
Let's continue that discussion in this thread.