A kind word today as I sit in the accumulating ashes which have recently blanketed my little los Angeles hide away. I awoke in the smoke, literally. Oh not enough to kill me, but enough to make me wonder if I was in a volcano or in Hollywood.
A deeper thought today, on the topic of Photographs.. Today I ponder the subtle differences between a good photograph and a great photograph. A photograph that “I’ like, and a photography that “More” people like. By the word more I’s simply referring to the human population and the commonality we have to certain things we call “appealing” for what ever reason. Lets face it, photography is personal. Personally, the things I really like, strive for and dream heavily about are not exactly always popular. Popularity has a price, however sometimes I have noticed that true artists find themselves walking awfully close to the popular trend curves without even knowing… or caring for that matter… which is a wonderful state of mind to be in. To succeed while being true to yourself is a goal I think that’s admirable and I certainly respect that in people I cross paths with. And hell, sometimes our wacky dreams become popular and media takes notice… I guess searching out media at the expense of soul and art is where things can kinda come apart at times… no rules… just do your best. I have good news… we fail.. it’s in our blood. I’ve been staring at a lot of mediocre images in my catalog this week.. not bad… but not great… you could say I’m somewhat of a miner who needs to go through each inch of soil looking for gold nuggets, weeks go by… sometimes months as I painstakingly dig through the RAW dirt. I’m somewhat of a virgo so it gets in my way sometimes, rather than looking at the giant pile of dirt glimmering with obvious sparkles off the evening sun.. I have some sense of responsibility to piles before her…piles built from days spent on misfires and “kinda ok” but hopeful promise. I’m a clean freak and order must be taken seriously. I imagine many photographers go through such ordeals, as all us photographers are mostly just humans with an insatiable thirst for order through composition. Ok, not all, but some. I guess I’m just talking to myself today as I stare at the piles, it’s giving me comfort in the ash. Good luck to you today, I’ll be digging this week, charging batteries and mending broken tripods for some fresh dirt piles. I had a choice today, a choice of words. I settled on this message below because I want to be kind. To myself and others.
“There is no greater weapon, Mizzy, than kindness. A smile, a compliment, encouragement and compassion belong in the arsenal of every Time-Space Adventurer. Today, may you crush, kill and destroy the fears you encounter, in others and in yourself. Yes, please, thank you”
- Me still