The Next Level

Hey Douglas, I know the feeling and would guess most of us that really care about this business do. So, let me know if you find a magic bullet, some book or something that so inspires that you go out and shoot different. Just a couple of suggestions that seem to help me when I feel like I’m in a rut: 1) Pick a different manner of shooting ie. lens choice, film, camera format, etc. It might just be going to a long lens if you rarely use it or a Leica body or 6×6 square. Just changing it up can make you begin to see and compose differently.
2) Get your shots for the paper “in the bag” then begin experimenting. William Albert Allard once told his class to “fail interestingly” and that’s a constant chant that runs through my head. If I’m going to fail at making a great picture anyway (and I usually do), I may have well do so in an interesting manner.
3) Pick a location with good light and composition and just sit there and wait for the action to come to it.
4) Think to yourself, if I could make any picture from this situation, what would it be? Then go make it. It might mean bringing lights, or facing rejection over getting in the best position or a thousand other things that keep us from taking the next step put I’m finding out that the one thing that the greats all have in common is that they take everything they do a step further than the rest of us. Vince LaForet gives those he speaks to an example of this by showing what the NYTimes expected of the changing of the light bulb on top of the Empire State building vs. what he shot which required scaffolding, city permits, etc. to set up. 5) Find a story that you care so much about that the pictures you make and your own satisfaction is secondary to the emotion you have for the subject. The pictures will come.
5) Finally, keep hacking away like the rest of us knowing that even a blind squirrill finds a nut from time to time.
Good shootin’
JLee

James,

Thanks so much for your reply. I’ll probably print this one out and read it before my next few assignments. Tomorrow might be a good one. I’m shooting firefighters who will have their heads shaved to raise money for cancer research.
Thanks again! Be safe!!

Douglas

Douglas, two points which sort of reinforce what James is saying here.  One, mistakes:  make mistakes, break the rules, change up your shooting mode (different cameras, lenses, film, etc), push the envelope.  As Artie Shaw once said, "if you dont make mistakes, you’re not playing at the edge of your abilities."   Dont play it safe. 



two,  Change of theme.  Photography is not just about composition and other formal characterisitics.  Subject matter is a huge part of it.  What you choose to shoot is part of what makes you a brilliant photographer.  You neednt travel to the ends of the earth, but wherever you find yourself you must really push to cover all aspects of a story, and you must pick stories that have something original, something different.  There is nothing wrong with many of the themes accepted by the media, but must we shoot them the same way every time?  One thing the media loves is the old chestnut: disadvantaged person (read: poor, invalid, etc) overcomes huge obstacles and triumphs.  This is the Oprah Winfrey feel-good genre, and it is cloying, hackneyed and based 0n a rather questionable ideology that serves to back up bourgeois concepts of autonomy, self reliance and individualism.  Let’s try to think in new ways about the stories we do.  Papers, magazines, and agencies collude in promoting certain ideas about life that are rather slight - better to borrow your ideas from art and literature.  (Not to say that any of this applies to your work - but this is in fact the way these institutions think, and if you continue being a working member of these institutions, then in order to move to the next level, you need to be more of a company "no-man.")

Or as Mario Andretti once said, “If I’m fully in control of the car, then I’m not going fast enough.”
Douglas you need to get out of your own head. Sometimes half the problem photographers have is second guessing themselves. They just ‘think’ too much. What would break this ‘cycle’ is going to a good workshop or seminar. I know it’s a long distance, but have you considered going to the VII photographer’s seminar in Pasadena next month?? I am sure that would give you a much needed boost. Perhaps see if the Maine or Santa Fe workshops have a photographer speaking who you highly respect. A weekend workshop at ICP might be just the thing.
One thing to keep in mind. You describe what you do. I don’t see anywhere in there about photography for yourself. It’s either for the newspaper or freelancing. If you really want to reach the next level you need to start doing photography for yourself. What form it takes….I don’t know. If you have an extra camera body you might start carrying it with you all the time. A film camera with 35mm lens would do. Just photograph the stuff that interests you. Or the stuff you really care about (family). Or stuff you really hate. Or who you had lunch with. Try that for a month. Look at your pictures. See what’s coming up that you might not have “shot for the newspaper”. Good luck and remember to have fun with your photography. That will help, too.

all the above and my own favorite bit of photographic wisdom, "get closer."

“Get closer” doesn’t just mean physically. Get closer emotionally, too. Connect with your subjects. And look for “moments”.

Buy a plane ticket.  Spend two weeks shooting every day in a country you are unfamiliar with.

I understand the “get closer” idea, both physically and emotionally, but it’s difficult to do when the assignments are 30 minutes long on average before having to get to the next.
I would be able to jet to another area and shoot that way, but that’s where the wife and home responsibilities come in to play. I guess I’m destined to be an average photographer as I feel there’s no way out of my lifestyle other than leaving my wife and being available 24/7 to do assignments with more to them than the local township reorganization meeting. I know that I sound beaten down, but I’ll never stop trying to be better. A huge part of my problem, as John mentioned, is that I think waaaayyy too much about everything and am often too literal a thinker.

I took some advice from the replies and was just complimented on my images from this weekend. I really appreciate all of your ideas!

I’ll leave you with one last thought. Does me questioning my abilities mean that I may never reach “The Next Level”?
I mean, have you ever heard of any great artists pose a similar question? I feel that the greats are just great without needing to ask for guidance.

Thanks again,

Douglas

doug

i would second most of what has been said. and in response to your last post, id say keep plugging along. also, i wouldnt attach so much importance to getting a good image out of an assignment. my (and many photographers i know) portfolio is pretty much composed solely of work that wasnt assigned (other than by me). i believe both jon and john mentioned to find what is important TO YOU and make those photographs. think about eugene richards photographing in his home town of Dorchester—no assignment there and not in a foreign country. also, elinor carucci’s “closer,” intimate photos of her family (and the eagerly aniticipated, by me at least, book that larry towell has shot about his family on his farm) there are many examples but it really just boils down to finding out what you are passionate about and then moving from there. now, as far as getting PAID…..well, that’s a whole nother can o’ beans…all the best, kenneth

I second Kenneth’s point, one may not find in one’s paid work the kind of inspiration or scope needed to really exploit one’s creative powers, but that doesnt mean that they dont exist or that you cannot find them by exploring other opportunities - maybe not paid, but I think the best work is often not paid, at least at the beginning.  And the stories or themes that will bring the best out of you can be found right there where you live, so there is no need to think of the wife and kid as a ball and chain.  I live in St Domingo - trust me, nothing happens here that is going attract much media interest, though a lot happens here that is interesting and provides me with exactly what I have been looking for over the course o fmany years spent wandering around and dithering.  I am married, have a daughter, and while that complicates matters it also makes some things easier, and it provides me some understanding of people - family people - that I never had before.  Plus, not to get all sentimental on you, but frankly my family is more important than the pix and helps me from going insane.  Obviously for a lot of photographers, their family life is important enough to them to serve as material for their photography: Gene Richards, Elinor Carucci, Larry Towell, among others have all worked this theme.



And dont think too much about things, just feel them.  Diane Arbus: "I never have taken a picture I’ve intended.  They’re always better or worse." 



A word about Gene Richards: his first book was done while and just after he was a Vista volunteer.  He simply shot what he saw around him.  His second book was Dorchester Days - again he shot what he saw around him, and he self published that book.  Then came the cancer book with the death of his wife - again, he shot what was going on around him, close.  Then he branched out a bit with the Knife and Gun Club and the Cocaine book, but by then he was at Magnum.  There is nothing stopping you from doing your own books right there where you live.  Dont worry so much about composition or that new "look" that will set your photos apart - remember what McCullin said: photography is not seeing it is feeling.  Find the things that you feel most strongly about and you will find your subject and your vision.



Last bit:  "Does me questioning my abilities mean that I may never reach "The Next Level"? I mean, have you ever heard of any great artists pose a similar question? I feel that the greats are just great without needing to ask for guidance."   whoa!  i guess you dont know too many famous artists - question their abilities?  Agonize over their self-worth?  Doubt themselves?  The Romantic concept of the artist, which came in with Goethe and has ruled our view of the Artist ever since, practically requires this soul searching, and the artist is nothing and no one without it.  He is Hegel’s "Divided Soul" incarnate. Those who dont feel compelled to ask for guidance are simply those, as Picasso once observed, who go about "stealing" it—they are the cat burglars of art history.



Discover what you feel strongly about and you will discover that all the rest of it falls into place.

Doug, do take a close look at the book I gave you, it deals with exactly the questions you’re asking, it was an incredible inspiration for me.   (for anyone else – it’s "Witness in our time: Working lives of documentary photographers" by Ken Light, a collection of unedited, first person essays by some of the best photojournalists and documentary photogs in the world.  )  .





Anyway,  Jon, I really enjoyed your post.

Douglas, I cannot add much of anything to what’s been said above. Fortunately -or unfortunately; I’ve mixed feeling about this issue…- I don’t have think about making a living out of photography. Photography "found" me when I already had a career and a business. In the end it was a conscious decision based on avoiding frustrations that could jeopardize my love for photography. I’ve seen many photographers ending up hating the craft because of career disapointments. That alone takes a whole lot of pressure off my back. I presume you do make a living out of it and have a completely different set of priorities and our points of view may not match in practice, however, my only advise is that I strongly second John and other’s advise that you do try to make time to photograph for yourself. Nothing beats the feeling of creating images; of always looking around with the intent of finding something to photograph; of seeing. I find the whole experience quite Zen-like…



I honestly don’t think I’ve elevated myself to any level of photography by making my choices; on the other hand, the journey has been a whole lot of fun.



L

Doug et al.



The great posts by Jon and others are hard to add to, but I would suggest one thing more in addition to those already expanded upon.  Look at what you are doing right now and then look around and see if there isn’t something better.  I started in photography at a small paper in West Virginia and did the six and seven assignments a day thing for a few years and then picked up and moved to Boston.  I moved so my wife could go to school and figured I’d work something out.  After nine months of freelancing and banging on doors I "hit it big" and was hired by a big paper in Boston that made my time in West Virginia seem like it was at a some newsletter rather than at a paper.   But three years into that job I realized that despite circulation size and budgets, working in West Virginia for a daily and working in Boston for a daily were very much the same … fewer assignments yes, but similar kinds of them, and all the other issues remained the same, and even worse was you actually had less control of picture play and personal projects you might dream up.  After that realization I did exactly what I’d done before … picked up and left.  This time it was only across the Charles River, but I moved out of the "Newspaper" world and into a University setting where the photography is much the same in my case, but the hours are better, assignments are fewer, benefits are better and it frees me up to do some photography for my self rather than having to "feed the beast" at such a rate that it kills you.



Just a thought – JI

The “buy a plane ticket” advice is some of the worst I’ve ever heard for a young photographer looking to take the next step. If you can do it in your back yard or the next town over (which is a lot less expensive than a plane ticket), then you can do it anywhere. Good pictures from good stories are the bottom line. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts to “the next level” - not buying a plane ticket, not finding an NGO to give you access, not joining the Army to shoot conflicts. The “get closer” advice, with healthy doses of focused ambition and patience, is about the only thing that really works. Find something photogenic you can throw yourself into, even if it’s just an hour or two a week. And don’t underestimate the power of continuing to throw all of your passion into what you’re already doing. Best of luck - it really is much more of a journey than a destination. How many top photographers did their very best work in the first 5 or 10 years of their career? Very few, I’d say. Keep chopping wood. The next level may not be right around the corner, but it’s there…

Douglas

This is one of those questions that, clearly, plagues all of us at one point or another and, simply, it sucks. When I was starting out I worked for a tiny weekly and I would go out and I would purposely shoot in the style of photographers whose work I admired. I did this to broaden my understanding of how to “speak” certain languages of photography. Eventually, I took what I wanted from those styles and made them my own. I listened to a lot of jazz, spent a lot of thought immersed in who I was as a photographer. This allowed me, I think, to find what people call a voice. I made it a priority to make images that had my mark on it. Ten years later and I’ve had a great life in photography, however, I’m almost back in that same space again. And oddly enough, in many ways my first year freelancing has been, on paper, a great year. Nonetheless, the photography Gods seem to be angry with me and at the moment I don’t know what the outcome will be. Sometimes we have to live with the uncertainty, the mushy area.

When I was a student there were a number of speakers at that time talking about how they lost their humanity, their sense of who they were as people, in their work and as a result had crappy personal lives and regretted it. That hit me pretty hard at the time and I knew that wasn’t going to be for me. So I’ve always strived for a sense of balance. Maybe it’ll hold me back from achieving one kind of thing as a photographer, but the woman sitting next to me planning our wedding far outweighs any picture I could make.

A lot of it can come down to what you’re doing in the time you have. Some situations are junk and you just need to do the best you can and get out so that you can spend more time on situations that will yield something meaningful, or go home and hang with the family. I think I’ve learned it’s about balance. Not that everything’s always in balance, but that it’s about recognizing when you need to just coast and chill and when you need to kick yourself in the ass and get to work. Other times you may need to find a new place to work when you’ve made the most of your current situation. I never believed in the 24/7 work ethic for me. I value my time away from the camera.

Know when you need to bail on photographing someone else’s life and go home and remember to live your own life. Better to be an average photographer and good father and husband, then a great photographer and bad father and husband. Read W. Eugene Smith’s bio, if this were supposed to be your life then it would be. Personally, I’d say be glad it ain’t.

Scott

W. Eugene Smith is one of the founding reasons I got into this profession, so I know I don’t want his home life :) I’m actually excited to put everyone’s insights into practice, thanks!