It is now the week after Groundhog Day. It seems like an excellent time to stop repeating things and begin moving forward. Stability is overrated.
Enter Daniel Pink
He’s written seven bestselling nonfiction books. Perhaps you know “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”, or some of his other titles.
He’s started something new. This very brief article is a Must-Read, in my view. His opening reads like this: “Here’s a novel response to our uneasy moment: Let’s spend less time opining about who’s right and who’s wrong and more time imagining what’s possible.”
He describes the value of imagining, and I’m taking it on. In adopting these ideas our personal health, emotional wellness and mental acuity will all benefit, just from practicing. We’ll also benefit societally. I really believe that.
Big promises, eh?
The impact on societal change, like the butterfly’s wing, will happen from just one person’s shift in thinking and behaviors. I’m sure there will be more than one person who shifts. It’s also possible that some Bigger Things arise over time. Quite possible.
I plan to send him my thoughts on how to view eduction differently, as a follow up to last week’s passing mention. I have no expectations about the direct impact, although you never know. But for this article I’ll apply Daniel’s challenge to my journey as a “Creative”.
Conundrums
Lately I’ve wondered if I’m pursuing the right things relative to photography and writing. I’ve been doing lots of concurrent things. If you want to become really skilled, or get a lot done, most experts advise against it. For example, I’ve written on Substack weekly for five months, and while I’m more efficient now, it still takes hours to write this column. Should I really be writing right now? I declared in my opening letter that I aim to be a nationally recognized portrait photographer within five years. I made that declaration because I enjoy photographing people but only recently began working at it. I thought that if I set national recognition as a goal, I’d end up with all sorts of interesting experiences and assignments along the way. So I declared it.
Despite the declaration I’m writing, and it’s one of many activities in my solopreneur life. I’ve been shooting wildlife along Goose Creek, and I’ve announced that I’m going to publish a book later this year featuring images from the path. My fourth published book. Another declaration! Sheesh.
I’ve also put work into the gallery/auction world, and I started to explore how to expand there. I love making fine art pieces, and it’s gratifying to see when others are moved by my work. I also sell Limited Edition Prints online.
I’ve done corporate work when approached. Headshots, group shots, that sort of thing. I just completed another job last week.
And I’ve written articles for a local paper and two magazines, photographs included. I just submitted the most recent article, also last week.
That’s SIX separate areas where I’m NOT practicing making creative portraits. Not to mention the promotional pieces, selling/outreach, web updates, etc. that are needed to support the different areas.
No surprise then, I haven’t made many portraits lately. Maybe a few times per month. So what about my five-year declared goal, eh? Did my interest wane??? That’s a great question to ask! But it hasn’t waned. My interest remains high. So then, what do I cut out? Isn’t that the obvious next step? Cut everything that isn’t directly associated with the Main Objective?
Except. Why not… pursue several things?
Can it bring joy to myself and others to explore multiple avenues, and can I do it while growing steadily as a portraitist?
To be clear, some things have to change if I’m going to make more portraits. I’m considering alternatives. I can outsource things I used to do, like constructing the wildlife book, or defer it to a future year. I can improve my efficiency and efficacy in some areas. But I’m not yet prepared to stop writing (I could pause), and I’m not going to stop making fine art pieces. I’ll likely defer expansion into more galleries, but not the creation of art.
I’d like to share some work I made recently, and explain why I won’t stop creating. First, If you didn’t realize, I once had a sizable display of my Color Studies Series at a now-defunct gallery in San Francisco, in the Crocker Galleria. I haven’t added much to the series since then. But as I began to consider all my activities I found myself drawn back to the series. Each piece has a photograph as its foundation. I’ve used different Photoshop techniques on each, depending on the originating image and the possibilities I imagine. There’s no post-processing formula.
New Work
This week I’ve made three new pieces, although you’ll see that the third became something entirely different. I’m not sure which, if any, are “finished”, but here you go.
Here’s the first of three original photographs that I modified last week:
And I’ve modified it to become (so far) this:
Re-creating this as White Hot did not involve huge, over-the-top changes, although it took longer than you might think. The result fits stylistically with one of my most popular older pieces from the series, Leonard:
Here’s the second image, again beginning as a straight photograph:
And below, re-created with color and design changes:
Finally, this third creation was arrived at accidentally. I was attempting to see what I might do with different colors in the background, and requested assistance from the Generative Fill capability in Photoshop. Yes, the function is classified as AI, fwiw. The result was a complete fail compared with my vision; it was not even close. But I was curious, so I kept playing with it.
Because, Why Not? The more a person experiments with their thinking, the more their brain develops, and goodness knows I need the help!!! Anyway, I started #3 with this straight photograph, which you’ve seen before:
And AI gave me this! I hate the colors, and overall it looks like unrelated crap that was just thrown together.
But it did make me curious, so I started playing and eventually made this:
Now, will this piece lead to more, or is it just a one-off? Dunno. Will I even print it, much less share beyond this letter? Couldn’t say. Was it worth doing? Heck yeah. I don’t know if it’s good, but it was an enjoyable, new exploration. Maybe 30 minutes of play. Fun stuff, and it made me happy.
I can’t spend all week working on such things and still grow as a portrait photographer. Not enough time. But once per week for a couple hours? I bet it helps. I’ll say more about prioritization and my new approach as I sort it out. But maintaining a pliable and exercised neural network should help me make more interesting portraits, quality and quantity.
TBD, of course.
Limited Edition Prints for Sale
Another channel of my photography. Oof. But as promised, I’ve got this new set of Limited Edition prints available for purchase. Any unsold African wildlife images from last fall, as promised, are retired from circulation.
Each edition consists of ten Numbered Prints and two Artists Prints, 16x24” silver halide, with certificate of authentication. As before, these are limited both by number and duration of the offer. If you’d like one or more for that special person, don’t hesitate. You wouldn't want to become he who is lost!
Until next time,
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!
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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. www.dobkinphoto.com
Hey, Don... I feel your pain. So easy to get distracted now days. I've come to sort of embrace it. I try to focus on my main objective, type design right now, but there are so many things I'm interested in. And I find these other things give me a different and useful perspective on my main pursuit. Usually... They can sometimes get distracting too but what are you gonna do?
Your piece resonates with me, Donn... especially the question of how much to concentrate on one's highest priority and how much to pursue other interests. I believe there can be creative cross-pollination among different endeavors. Also that play can stimulate our creativity, as well as being fun.