Making New Things
For the sake of living
Happy New Year!
Among my holiday gifts were books by Guy Tal, including Be Extraordinary. Guy is both an excellent writer and also a brilliant visual artist, and he creates landscapes that are clearly “his”, like these from his site.
His book has a quote which is worth considering as we start a new year. I’ve re-read it many times already.
Never assume that other people, even those closest to you, have already figured out the best way to live.
In terms of my “best way” to live, Creating is essential to my well being. It’s why I gravitated to start-ups in my past.
Making art my favorite way to create.
(The greatest hurdle to living a great life can be identifying what is important to you.)1
What I mean when I say “making art”
Let’s just get this out of the way - I’m not about to compare myself to Guy Tal. He’s a fantastic artist, I’m a different person, and it’s all good. But Guy has opinions that I share.
What we both mean when we say “making art" is making something that's yours, even if the subject has been depicted by many others. Mimicry is fantastic for building technical skills. Making art is something else, it requires doing your own thing.
Familiar Places, Familiar Subjects
As a borderline example, I made this image of the Golden Gate Bridge years ago. It’s very pretty. Still, it was taken from a spot on the Marin headlands where thousands of images are made every day. It’s not entirely unoriginal thanks to the weather and sunset, but it’s sort of on the border of art, the way I’m thinking about it. You could debate the definition forever. The idea is important to me because it relates back to my personal best way to live.
So last week in the San Francisco Bay Area, I challenged myself to capture some iconic landmarks differently.
Alcatraz
I love Alcatraz, it fascinates me. I also love the feel of Bay Area fog. The fog generates mystical, soothing feelings for me.
These next images were taken from Tiburon, looking south through the fog. These are pretty close to the way they looked to my naked eye. The next image is also sharp as a tack, which… well, we’ll get to that.
I almost really like it.
But not quite. So I intentionally blurred it. That’s blasphemy to many photographers, but my goal is not to make a perfect photograph. I want the dreamy mood I feel when I’m there. And the sharp focus pulls me out of my dream state. It drags me into the details of the birds’ wings, the defined angular shapes, the ripples in the water, etc.
See below. The difference is small, but now my eye responds differently. Now I can imagine sitting on a bench or strolling by the scene. Allowing the gentle environment to soothe me.
Same with the next image. The camera revealed distracting details in the boat. A slight blur takes me where I want to go.
Other worlds
Here’s a completely different example.
When I was younger I enjoyed fantasy books, things like Lord of the Rings. From the time I first discovered Andy Goldsworthy's wooden sculpture in the Presidio, "The Spire", has evoked feelings of other lands. I hadn’t tried to convey similar feelings until last week.
This piece is far from traditional photography, and many won't like it. But making art isn’t about winning a popularity contest. To me, it’s about conveying feelings. For this depiction I used the multiple exposure techniques described last year.
Your own world
I try to avoid offering unsolicited advice, because it’s a waste of breath and can really annoy people. But I’ll go ahead now with one suggestion anyway. When others tell you what you should do with your life, remember that you get to decide. They don’t get to post all the signs on your life’s roadways.
And if art is something you love, then bring more of it into your life. Whether you’re viewing it, making it, or both.
Just maybe, you’ll be glad you did.
Until next time,
Limited Edition Prints for Sale
This is an Extremely Limited Edition of prints for the series called Seas and Skies. I’ll make just five 16x24” archival, Numbered Prints (and two Artists Prints), each with associated certificate of authentication.
These are selling out and *Closing Curtain is down to One Remaining*
Not to overstate things, but I truly believe you can help bring peace and joy to someone’s 2025 with these.
Is there something here you like or dislike? Questions? Have anything else to say? Let us all know by clicking on the Comments button below, and express yourself. Don’t be shy, now.
If you like this post you’re bound to like the next one as well. I’m sending them weekly. Quit any time, or better yet, stay and read on!
Know anybody who should hear about all this? Be a friend and let them know!
Or, are you interested in seeing more work? My website welcomes you. We may even want to work together. I promise a joyous and productive experience if we do.
Visit: www.dobkinphoto.com
If you haven’t reconfirmed the Big Things That Matter To You recently, I highly recommend you set time aside as soon as you can. You’ll be glad you did. Your own list might even have changed since the last time you made one. It can be shocking if you discover your priorities have shifted since the last time you looked, but it happens.
For some of you, maybe you’ll even decide to make a bit of your own art going forward. My Big things are Connecting, Creating, Contributing, and Playing. (I’ve subjugated learning, just like I’ve subjugated health, as ways to support the Big Four).
The bridge is a classic, but nonetheless a great photo!
Terrific photos, Donn!