Card #10
The Valuable
What is the use of acquiring what you do
not need? Think about what you would
want to hold in your hands as you die
and you will know what really matters.
- Exercise -
This is a non-image making exercise but
an important one nonetheless. List the
reasons you have for making photographs.
Be honest and above all, non-judgmental.
Put the list away and don't look at it for at
least 6 months. Make a new list and
compare it to the first. After practicing your
craft for 6 months, have your reasons
changed? Make this a yearly ritual.
One of the primary motivations for my camera work is the desire to see the beauty in the commonplace...the sacred in the ordinary. My First Person Rural series was one of the results of this on-going passion for me. It wasn't always that way. In the beginning, back in the mid-seventies, when I was in college and majoring in photography, creating the beautiful print, the perfectly composed and technically strong image, was about the only thing that mattered to me. I'm not surprised that after graduation, when making a living supplanted making photographs, I fell away from photography. You see, without powerful and personal meaning the images didn't hold my interest. Since returning to photograph, contemplative photography that is, I have discovered a reason for making images that will hold my interest until I am no longer able to hold a camera. I hope you can also discover your passionate approach to the medium.
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