sunday morning in my hotel room…..i just had breakfast with alex majoli and we were musing over our work here in seoul…his project was to shoot food…in an alex majoli kind of way of course…he leaves tomorrow, while i still have about three days of shooting….but, am i really already done?? do i have it?? is it "over" ?? mostly when photographers talk, we think we do not really "have it" ..yet…not quite anyway…that was our conversation over sunday morning coffee after saturday night shooting…
i was even thinking this morning that i might change my concept completely…i do have a new way of looking at this whole subject that popped into my head just yesterday….second thoughts…maybe too late, maybe not….but, can i do a completely different thing in three days and "throw out" almost two weeks of work?? i have no fear of doing that…hmmm…i went through all of my work….seems like less than it should be….some ok work,but only a few really nice photographs…after all, this work will be in a fine book with the collected work of 15 other Magnum photographers who have worked here in Korea during this last year…i am feeling the "weight"…
i suspect that all of us suffer with this dilemma one way or another….would more time help?? or, is enough enough?? there is definitely a point when the "law of diminishing returns" sets in….i find that i make interesting things at the very beginning of a project…taking advantage of early passion and the newness of things….and , then again , at the very end….when i realize, as i have realized this morning, that i should have "better"….i do not know what happens in the middle time zone for me….the "ok work" i think…
for me anyway, time is totally relative when shooting on some projects…..one great day of intensity is way better than a week of "almost" working….all of us need a reasonable amount of time to work…but, i do not have time as an excuse…i should have been able to capture the essence and texture of "youth culture" in these two weeks….two more weeks would not help…..well, maybe a little, but not much…at least, not in the way that i have been doing it….
and "more time" is rarely an excuse for most photographers even though it is the most popular excuse of all…you always have enough time to do what you "can do"….not having enough time to do what you "can’t do" is a lame excuse for a career not moving forward…and besides, look at paul fusco’s "Funeral Train", three hours of shooting and Chien Chi-Chang’s "The Chain" about an hour and a half of work..both powerful books and exhibitions…
even book projects which take years to complete, are but a series of "short shoots"…..comparing a fast moving newspaper assignment to having weeks for a magazine story is the biggest "complaint mistake" of all…but a common one…that is, until the photographer suddenly has a "long time" to work and then realizes that whoever is paying for the "long time" has expectations requiring some very fast working days that just add up to a "long time" and with very high expectations for each and every day…..
sorry, i just drifted a bit, but it is all a related discussion…the rhetorical question for all of us is this: when do we know we are done with a project? when is it "over"? usually , for me, i just "know it"…feel it in my bones….still there are some projects for me that are never over….how about you?? how do you know???
i actually have more to add to this, but now i must go do some more work!! i will key off of your initial responses……
Dave, I am just comming off a wild month travelling across the wild north ,from Nuhulunbuy to Alice springs to Kakadu to The Kimberleys.
Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I’m being paid to go to these places and take photo’s,unbelievable!!
Just a thought about the “Assignment” as you picked the busiest month I’ve had , would work shot for myself “Off Assignment” be eligible?
There’s a cowboy hat greeting from Brunette Downs for you on my web site!
All the Best , Glenn
Coming back here to read again..
“nobody knows what i missed!! including me…”
I think that’s my (one of them) problem I have, I DO know what I missed, I DO know what could be and what is not (talking about longterm projects), and for now I haven’t learnt to not let it bother me. Gotta get over it. Good to see that it also happens to others :)
Hey David,
I like the question and line of this thread as it’s one that has had me thinking a lot since I’ve started to really try and do ‘stories’ or ‘features’. I think the whole concept of time for a project varies tremendously. You mentioned in a reply that some students on your workshops produced their best work from one week of intense shooting, compared to a year or two previously…I was one of them! Some people need a time frame, a deadline, someone telling them X needs to be done by this or that time. Some people work better if they have no time frame. It’s got to be about the own photographers feeling.
Now that point I just stated I think should be for your personal work. You obviously can’t turn round to a client and say ‘hey, I’m an artist, I need time to create’…you have to do the job. I wanted to tell you I did my first proper assignment for the German newspaper Die Ziet here in Beijing last month. Now we had a real tight time frame. Along with a 5-day general ‘portait of Beijing’ I did, they also wanted about 10 portraits of various people and in most cases I had about 5-10 minutes to come up with a portrait worthy of going in a national paper for each. I really liked the pressure of having to produce in a tight timeframe. Thankfully they liked what I did.
Also (this is turning into a longer than intended post!), I’ve just literally got back from a week trip to the deserts of western China. I had 10 days completely free, so decided to do a small project in those 10 days, with the 10 days being my time frame. It was completely my own personal work but I thought it would be good to give myself a mock assignment, pretend someone had sent me there to do it. Well, the results I shall post in/on DR…I think I did okay, but I have to edit first, so we shall see!
Last point. Wasn’t it you David who said somewhere that if you’re on your way to the airport having ‘finished’ an assignment and you’re looking out the window and you’re still seeing pictures then it’s a sign you’re onto something good?
Best,
Sean
wow.. you will be here in India ?? I am quite excited.. please inform me .. I will be waiting to meet you too … anyway, i am always keeping a track of this very fantastic and inspirational blog.