Photography looks simple. It is in fact quite the opposite. I used to thank my lucky stars I didn’t have to use a studio space to make my work. I could get done photographically what I needed to on location. A studio was simply a nice to have optional feature.
I used to think starting a project in digital made it infinitely easier to create. Working on my laptop I could be anywhere and produce my work.
And now I’m in the thick of it in this project. I used to think a lot of things.
This project has taught me something I believed for a long time, but now I know it in my bones: infinite options does not produce better work. I am not more creative with additional options. In fact, I might be less so.
I’ve sung the praises far and wide about the benefits of making by hand. It does a couple of pedagogical things: it bypasses self-doubt more easily and trains your brain on intuitive making. Spiritually it bypasses your cognition and taps into the soul of who you are. And the limitations that come with making by hand force you to find solutions you otherwise could have missed in a digital exclusive space.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with using digital technology. But believing that it always makes things easier or better is not true.
Instead of 36-images on a roll of film I shot about 100 images minimum at each cemetery I visited. That left me, after a first cull, with nearly 200 selects (that’s too many). And that’s roughly only 10% of what I photographed. That’s too too much.
After another few rounds of cuts I’m down to under 100 images. It took me nearly 5 rounds of culling to get down to a workable number of photographs. 😮💨
You might understandably think, “How great that you have so many options!”
Actually, not great. Because now — instead of fully trusting my 20-years of intuition built from being behind a camera — I let scarcity run the show when I was out making the work. I was afraid of never being back at any specific location so I over produced. It was digital so the number of images at my disposal felt infinite.
I think back to my MFA thesis body of work. My mentor wisely encouraged me to produce a limited number of portraits of each participant. He suggested 2, I gave myself 8 negatives. In the end, 2 would have been plenty. Because I found the moment I was waiting for in each session. I didn’t need 8 negatives. I trusted myself. I trusted my experience. I was so present in each session. And the outcome was incredible. The limitation and slowness improved the work.
This makes me think about what entices our culture about technology: more-ness. We think more is better. It rarely is.
What’s a photographer to do when faced with this thousands of photographs? Keep culling. I just keep culling. One day the project will fit into the photo book of my dreams. That day is not today. But maybe this week or next it will.
Perhaps next time I’m starting a project I’ll have the courage to trust my instincts once again and keep it simple and let my intuition lead.