The end of the regular Club season is upon us and many are preparing for the summer break. As with all endings there are beginnings that follow. It’s a natural cycle. In our case the beginning is a new Club year starting in September, and with many beginnings, there are resolutions we set to map out the goals and accomplishments for what awaits. Now is a good time to set some photographic resolutions to accomplish over the summer so you have a head start on what you enter in competition, share at A Closer Focus, or improve your skills for future field trips.
One of my resolutions was inspired by this Henri Cartier-Bresson quote:
“Of course, you first have to have talent. If you don’t have talent, don’t bother. But, you have to cultivate talent. I think if you’re a photographer, to only cultivate your talent with photography is pretty dull. You have to read, you have to look at sculpture and paintings. That’s how you build this talent.”
In an attempt to cultivate whatever talent I have, I will be taking a writing class over the summer to expand my creativity and improve my photography story telling skills. I figure that if I’m a better writer I may become a better photographer. Writing creatively will help me organize my thoughts by distilling the main points of a subject into a narrative. I believe that will help when creating pictures by forcing me to find the subject, avoid distracting elements in a frame and better tell a story.
I’ve long felt that the best way to preserve photographs archivally is by printing them. Photographs also look better when printed. Many photographers, including myself, believe the printed photograph is the final product of the photographic art. Digital display is easy and convenient but having an actual printed picture, on paper, is a tactile experience that can be enjoyed with no swiping or clicking. Printing more of my pictures is one of my summer resolutions but printing each picture has its own drawbacks. One major drawback to printing is where to store the print, especially if hanging them on the wall is not practical. Is it any better to store a print in a box, infrequently seen, then never printing at all? A solution is to print in book form using a self-publishing service such as Blurb. A book’s advantage is the image is printed on paper, so it’s archival, and a book is easily accessible for review anytime.
The idea of writing and printing has been subsurface for some time now but really came up after shooting a self imposed assignment at the Emmitsburg Antique Mall. The pictures I shot were along a theme I created based on an imaginary story. The story remains imaginary until I can get it down in writing. Printing my pictures from the antique mall in book form accompanied with a short story will check the resolution boxes. Coupling my two summer resolutions, writing and printing, seems like a natural way to leverage both towards cultivating talent and expanding my creativity.
Think about what you would like to accomplish over the summer break, create a resolution or two and let us know in the comments section below what they are.