Alright, let’s break it down: my vision.
Wow, that is a task. And I mean a daunting task. Can I really, effectively write down my artistic vision so that you can read this blog and say to yourself “Now this is a photographer I want, nay, need to hire”.
Wow, that is a task. And I mean a daunting task. Can I really, effectively write down my artistic vision so that you can read this blog and say to yourself “Now this is a photographer I want, nay, need to hire”.
No.
So I’ll do the next best thing. That is to say, I’m going to write whatever odd, arty, world-view thought that I have, and feel is worth putting down on paper. Such as…
My 3 rules of life:
1) Never play cards with anyone whose first name is the same as a city
2) Never eat in a restaurant that revolves
3) Don’t sweat the small stuff – actually, don’t sweat anything at all. Life is too short.
OK, there ya go! That’s me in a nutshell, what do ya think? That wasn’t so hard.
Oh, you need more? Hmmm……
My favorite quote about art is from Norman Maclean’s “A River Runs Through It”. He wrote “All good things, trout fishing as well as eternal salvation, come by grace, and grace comes by art, and art does not come easy.”
It took me a long time to discover the artist within me. When I started as a photographer more than 20 years ago, the business side came easy. I understood exactly how to market, how to estimate, and everything connected with running my business. The artistic side – the idea of putting “me”, the “real me” into every photograph (whether it be a bag of potato chips or a lofty personal project) – was elusive to me. I saw only right angles. It wasn’t until two or three years after I started that I became truly comfortable with my abilities, and my creative vision (the very vision I am attempting to articulate to you here) and today I am supremely confident in my ability to create “the shot” – the shot that you are looking for, even if you don’t know that you are.
What was it that clicked? What was the life changing epiphany that brought the inner artist out to the world?
I have no idea.
I think part of the answer lies here, in this blog. I don’t pretend to be a writer (although I did write, and publish a novel), and I don’t think I’m really that insightful. But, the fact that I am comfortable with you finding out everything about me - good, bad and weird – is testament to the fact that the real me is somewhere within these pages, somewhere within this website, and somewhere within my work.
My artistic vision is not something I can put into words, and it is not something deep and insightful and challenging. I see the world as it is. My right angle vision has evolved into something more complex, but simple in the same right. My photography represents this viewpoint. I am not a Photoshop master, and my images are not laden with special effects. Even in the most complicated of sets, I photograph beauty and simplicity.
Through stories, jokes, and a dedication to the craft of photography, I attempt to create an inner-narrative that somehow illuminates the artist, the photographer, and the person behind the images on this site. I encourage dialog through the entire creative process, so please feel free to write – even if it’s only to berate my humor or critique my work - of course it’s nice to hear the good too, so if you like something, let me know.
I hope that you get something out of reading this small entry in my blog, and viewing the work on my website – what, I don’t know. Enlightenment would be nice, but I’ll settle for whatever I can get. Ultimately of course, I want it to lead to a profitable, long-term relationship for both of us, and that is something that I strive for with every client. I look at every client as a partner.
For now, however, let’s just get through the day with a smile and a look of accomplishment, for tomorrow is another challenge.
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