i probably lost all of my hair because i pulled it out while trying to edit photographs….this most anguishing process just goes with the territory of being a photographer…who among us has not suffered during the editing nightmare??
i am even writing this post right now to "delay" what i really should be doing … i am supposed to be editing my france fast train story….it is due tomorrow…i must walk into Fortune magazine with a "done deal" preliminary edit first thing in the morning….so, what am i doing?….stalling…procrastinating….but, yes yes i must do it…like doing my homework in school…i just cannot face it right this minute, but it must be faced…coffee pot boiling, everything downloaded, organized, but the sun is shining and i would rather go ride my bike….or rather do anything but edit….
now, having said this, it is easy for me to edit someone else’s work….that i can do with clarity…my own, is another story….i suspect this may be true for many of you as well….let’s all agree to one thing…editing is at least as important as shooting….how you choose your photographs, which ones will rise to the top, is as important as anything you will do as a photographer….some photographers are better at it than others and some cannot do it at all…and editing is a talent, just as "seeing" in the first place is a talent….
i have just as much respect for fine photo editors as i do for fine photographers…and rarely are they the same person….collaboration with someone you truly respect as an editor is probably what most of you need as much as anything else in your photographic life….
when i look, as often as i do, at the work of emerging photographers, and many established photographers as well, i usually see that i can "fix’ their portfolio or story in about ten minutes with a better edit or sequencing…it might "hurt" for a few minutes when i start throwing out pictures that were "hard to get", but when the dust settles, and a few minutes go by, and the photographer no longer "misses" the ones in the "out stack" and sees that "less is more", then we start to move in the right direction…and believe me, i always tell myself the same thing that i am telling you….
on all of my projects i collaborate with someone…it is often the picture editor of a magazine and we figuratively "dance’ together… or a few days with an editor or designer of a book publisher with pictures tacked to the wall or spread out over the room…moving stuff around…thinking, sequencing….
we (editors and i) tend to "choose" each other…form a relationship that goes way way beyond the "official" relationship of the publication…a relationship of mutual respect….when it all goes "right", it is something that yields a pride in shared creativity and can be one of the pure joys of our profession….
make friends with a good editor….stay friends with a good editor…..someone who understands you and your work , but who will also be brutally honest with you…for your own good….getting everyone’s opinion does not work…this will really confuse you….just get the critique of one or two good people you totally respect and trust….and, of course, ultimately respect your own opinion….
if you do not have an opinion, you cannot be a serious photographer…..if you do not collaborate just a bit, you probably cannot be a serious photographer either….this is photographic tango ….choose your "partner" wisely…
ok, enough said….i must now do it….make a good "rough cut" from just a few days of work…i cannot worry about what the magazine will actually run…i just must show what i did…it is all about the story…it is all about the pride of good work…it is all about what we all live for….photographs which reflect the perfect combo of "story told" and "personal vision"….i hope that all of you are "dancing" right now….
here it goes again my terrible english :)
yesterday (sunday) i spent all day editing photos from an assigment that i did in this past week (just after i arrived from perpignan) in the Douro region (wines culture, and related). in three days i did 600 photos (more or less) and in the first edit i pick up about 100. and after that a did another edit for me (without thinking in the magazine.) the second one for me it was more “easier” because was based in my personal seeing and feeling, never the less, i had some doubts of course. the first one was more dificult because i know that the editor will pick up photos according the text of the reportage. and yes, during the assigment i was with the journalist and we allways exchange words about the focus of the reportage, this is very important issue: talking always with the writer. still, i sent an larger editing because i know how the magazine works, and my choices is not their choices, and in this kind of “soft” assigments i can deal well with this, first the story, me in the end. my very concern is always try to give photos and alternatives with the “factual” information of the story. yes, my vision isn’t in 100 photos, my vision maybe is in at 10 photos (note much more). , unfortunatly (yet) in assigments i didn’t have the time to make that 10 photos with all the aspects and essence of the story. to balance that i have my personal works.
here it goes again my terrible english :)
yesterday (sunday) i spent all day editing photos from an assigment that i did in this past week (just after i arrived from perpignan) in the Douro region (wines culture, and related). in three days i did 600 photos (more or less) and in the first edit i pick up about 100. and after that a did another edit for me (without thinking in the magazine.) the second one for me it was more “easier” because was based in my personal seeing and feeling, never the less, i had some doubts of course. the first one was more dificult because i know that the editor will pick up photos according the text of the reportage. and yes, during the assigment i was with the journalist and we allways exchange words about the focus of the reportage, this is very important issue: talking always with the writer. still, i sent an larger editing because i know how the magazine works, and my choices is not their choices, and in this kind of “soft” assigments i can deal well with this, first the story, me in the end. my very concern is always try to give photos and alternatives with the “factual” information of the story. yes, my vision isn’t in 100 photos, my vision maybe is in at 10 photos (note much more). , unfortunatly (yet) in assigments i didn’t have the time to make that 10 photos with all the aspects and essence of the story. to balance that i have my personal works.
here it goes again my terrible english :)
yesterday (sunday) i spent all day editing photos from an assigment that i did in this past week (just after i arrived from perpignan) in the Douro region (wines culture, and related). in three days i did 600 photos (more or less) and in the first edit i pick up about 100. and after that a did another edit for me (without thinking in the magazine.) the second one for me it was more “easier” because was based in my personal seeing and feeling, never the less, i had some doubts of course. the first one was more dificult because i know that the editor will pick up photos according the text of the reportage. and yes, during the assigment i was with the journalist and we allways exchange words about the focus of the reportage, this is very important issue: talking always with the writer. still, i sent an larger editing because i know how the magazine works, and my choices is not their choices, and in this kind of “soft” assigments i can deal well with this, first the story, me in the end. my very concern is always try to give photos and alternatives with the “factual” information of the story. yes, my vision isn’t in 100 photos, my vision maybe is in at 10 photos (note much more). , unfortunatly (yet) in assigments i didn’t have the time to make that 10 photos with all the aspects and essence of the story. to balance that i have my personal works.
here it goes again my terrible english :)
yesterday (sunday) i spent all day editing photos from an assigment that i did in this past week (just after i arrived from perpignan) in the Douro region (wines culture, and related). in three days i did 600 photos (more or less) and in the first edit i pick up about 100. and after that a did another edit for me (without thinking in the magazine.) the second one for me it was more “easier” because was based in my personal seeing and feeling, never the less, i had some doubts of course. the first one was more dificult because i know that the editor will pick up photos according the text of the reportage. and yes, during the assigment i was with the journalist and we allways exchange words about the focus of the reportage, this is very important issue: talking always with the writer. still, i sent an larger editing because i know how the magazine works, and my choices is not their choices, and in this kind of “soft” assigments i can deal well with this, first the story, me in the end. my very concern is always try to give photos and alternatives with the “factual” information of the story. yes, my vision isn’t in 100 photos, my vision maybe is in at 10 photos (note much more). , unfortunatly (yet) in assigments i didn’t have the time to make that 10 photos with all the aspects and essence of the story. to balance that i have my personal works.
i forget to say that the “10 ones” were sent also in the midle of the others, but that 10 are kind “highlighteds” with a better post production ;)
i forget to say that the “10 ones” were sent also in the midle of the others, but that 10 are kind “highlighteds” with a better post production ;)
i forget to say that the “10 ones” were sent also in the midle of the others, but that 10 are kind “highlighteds” with a better post production ;)
i forget to say that the “10 ones” were sent also in the midle of the others, but that 10 are kind “highlighteds” with a better post production ;)
i forget to say that the “10 ones” were sent also in the midle of the others, but that 10 are kind “highlighteds” with a better post production ;)
martin..
ok now …all emails accounted for!!!!
i think our little exchange will be good for a new post actually…to be/or not to be a “professional”
peace (world peace), david
David…
I’ll be waiting for new post.
thanks
world peace :)
ehm. I omitted to fill in the description, perhaps thinking that for stage 1 you did not want it. I suppose if I make it past round 1 then I can surely supply descriptions or a short essay. P.S. image001 and image020 are meant to be like ‘visual bookends’
I have funny story for all of you. Not about editing or photography but about art. Photography is art so I think I could tell it here.
The story about true art.
A month ago I was cleaning my apartment, and I had to throw away many things, because I need more place. One of this staff was my old drawings, from art school. There are about 500 drawings, fast sketch from exhibit . Nice but not important anymore. So I was throw out to garbage dustbin. It was raining windy day. At evening I was hurry for meeting, when I was go outside I saw all of my drawing everywhere around. Hundreds of drawings lying on whole my street, in water and mud, flying with wind. Everywhere. ‘it is most beautiful piece of art I ever see. This is true art!” I said myself. I wanted to shoot it but I was late and I was hurry. some children take them out i suppose.
Yesterday we was cleaning our apartment with my wife again, we need more place. So she decided throw away her old paintings on boards. We put them near dustbin maybe someone will take it to home. Today morning I go outside with my dog. Her paintings lying on ground and covering a few holes. Some workers digging holes and they need something to put over it for security. I take my camera and I took some pictures. Beautiful piece of art, don’t you think?
Conclusion; art could be funny sometimes. I hope photography too.
Martin
I love editing. Am the only one?
Edit in a way that leaves them begging for more!!
I want to upload 6 more pictures to have 20th pictures on the ftp as you required but I can not connect more with the username davidalanharvey-septblog and the password upload.
If we can lets keep all of the uploading questions on the tech stuff blog so that we don’t interrupt the good conversations going on here.
Thanks
Michael
Please include me on the list of those interested in reading more about authorship. Since I’ve (unfortunately) never taken a workshop with you I missed out on the authorship “lecture.” Or as my husband and I joke with each other when we don’t know the answer to something we should have learned in 5th grade…”I must have been absent that day.” :)
I have been here on the blog from day one and have tried to soak up every word that has been written about authorship. I get the message for sure but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded over and over again. I often wonder when editing whether or not an image really has my own “stamp” on it or if it’s just a fancy version of a snapshot. How to KNOW the difference? What would the average tourist have done standing in the same spot? What would HCB have done?
This is also a bit confusing… I read a great interview with Mary Ellen Mark once where she talks about not wanting to “interfere” with the voice of her subject. I’m misquoting but it was something about her not wanting to have a voice…that it should be THEIR voice that is speaking. How to accomplish this and still have authorship? Hope to hear more about this if you do a piece on it oneday soon.
Thanks.
Cathy, this authorship thing is a huge subject. It brings into play the self-imposed dichotomy between fine art and journalism. It address the matter of political correctness. But most, it is a matter of choice.
How do you want to tell the story? What story do you want to tell? Do you want to tell any story? Some of this depends, of course, on whether you’re getting paid to tell a story or to react photographically to what you see.
There are alot of questions, and I have no idea what David’s answers will be. I find the questions themselves fascinating.
Look at an early draft of a story I shot but still haven’t really finalized.
http://www.michaelashapiro.com/threestories
You have to click on the first thumbnail to get it started.
Thanks for adding to the conversation Michael S. and sharing your story which I enjoyed…good job. Lots of hard work went into it I’m sure and a subject that is dear to my heart. When I met my husband he owned a Trading Post in Zuni so we know this story well.
authorship is the dictate by which our entire lives are defined….
we are story telling, a species kept swung high-away from the abyss because of our ability to draw from around us a gathering: we tell stories and swallow them, we reckon this passing life and all its attendant sorrows and joys through the sharing and warning of all that. We are nothing if not for our speakers ans listeners: on the cave walls long ago we told of our fears and loves etched with blood and berry stain and they have not ceased. We need to speak, we need to listen, we need to speak out into the void, we need to open our ears as much as our eyes, unfold and foldup our tongues as much as spread out our insatiable skins…authorship: to speak out of that and those who have inhabited us and passed inside…but authorship also means to listen….
MEM’s dictate about not wanting her voice to “intrude” on the subjects is a reasonable one, but a MEM photograph is authorial and transcendent, and I should add majesterial. I just went to a show this saturday, Mark’s first solo in Toronto, of her early work Ward 81 which broke my heart when I first saw in in a book while in university in the mid 80’s and now again, stunned and stunning….her subjects, of course, “speak”, or rather their stories speak because of her photographs…but, it is a bit of a ruse to suggest that Mark isnt “interferring”…what I would suggest she means is that she tries not to “impose” her own judgements and ideas upon her subjects, but capture them, their lives, their stories as She sees it…she’s still speaking, only she’s speaking OF THEM and not FOR THEM….she’s a hero too of mine, and I wouldnt say for a moment that Mark isn’t one of the most distinctive voices in photography of the last 30 years…she absolutely is: heroic, majeterial, heart-kniving….
but authorship is not exclusive to Mark. Other photographers speak of their own experiences, the encounter with those around them, this fleeting life. that’s my take. It’s narcisstic, but then again is the false “objective” dictum too. I cannot speak for others, or people or places I am photographing, but I listen, listen alot and often (I spend more time talking and listening and thinking than I do photographing, and that has always worked for me). I love to listen to people’s stories and what has happened to them, and I like to think of myself as someone who makes others feel at ease and comfortable: im open (i hope, but my wife will have to verify;) to that….it’s what i cherish about David as well…my own photography is born of just: how people and their life and this passing life has entered me…the vanquishing, the vanishing, the loss and the wonder…..
authorship to me, and maybe this is what David is suggesting, is that a photograph must come from a place, born not just of the world around. Authorship comes from the desire (desire first, and foremost) to want to reflect and speak of that which passed inside you. Ability to make a photograph is meaningless (that is easy to do and to learn, trust me: i personally am trying to unlearn all that) and tertiary. The desire and trust to allow life enter you and to let others penetrate you and then to be able to capture that through your whatever (photography, writing, art, music, conversations with others, emails, smiles, etc) is the key:
authorship, to me, simply means this: one who has committed themselves to telling a story or to recounting a story that has been given to them, in the only way that they are capable of. I often lament that some many in the photogrpahy circles I meet talk about “i want to be like photographer x,y,z (you fill in the name, it pervades) instead of forgetting that and figuring out who they were meant to be as a photographer. It is not about style or subject, not about even what your photographs look like, but something more essential:
does photography insight you, does it reflect your relationship with the waking and dying world around you….is it only a picture…or something that has a part of you in it….
my photographs are constant failures, but I know they are mine, for good and ill…they’re a mess and they probably resemble me:….
a photographer, for me at least, should have a reason for why she shot….they come from a place, an ethic, a philosophy, a spiritual side, an place inside….for photography is more important than any other part of a waking life (photograph, brushing my teeth, eating food, reading a book, talking with my wife and son and friends, walking, drinking, sleeping, laughing, crying, fucking, dreaming, silent: it all is the breathing)….
authorship means that: invest in your work all that your life means to you, and failure or success will have much less importance….
i write because it’s a part of me.
i photograph because its a part of me.
i live because i am alive.
one can make great photographs without authorship and one can make shit photographs with real and authentic and gorgeous life-authorship. When someone can achieve both, that’s a rarity and a beauty.
hunt down your own ideas and make them your own, this at least to me is more important than whether your photograph is brilliant or successful or loved or ignored….they can forget my photographs (who cares) but I still have my life and my living ;))))))
hope that helps…
David: sorry for the long hijack :)))))
hugs
bob
============================================
Encounter
We were riding through frozen fields in a wagon at dawn.
A red wing rose in the darkness.
And suddenly a hare ran across the road.
One of us pointed to it with his hand.
That was long ago. Today neither of them is alive,
Not the hare, nor the man who made the gesture.
O my love, where are they, where are they going
The flash of a hand, streak of movement, rustle of pebbles.
I ask not out of sorrow, but in wonder.
–Czeslaw Milosz
ps. please forgive my many many typos: even as a writer, I’ve always been A HORRIBLE speller, much to my english teacher’s disappointment.. (go-figure) ;))))…see: authorship, fuck the spelling ;))))
“for photography is more important than any other part of a waking…”
sorry, that is not what i meant: i meant:
photography is NOT (!) more important than any other part of a waking…
SORRY FOR BAD TYPING…ok, that’s it for a few days ;)))
sorry david :))
b
Bob- you said (among many other pearls) “my photographs are constant failures, but I know they are mine”.
I often find solace in Garry Winogrand’s words ringing in my mind while I’m shooting: “The nature of the photographic process – it is about failure. Most everything I do doesn’t quite make it.”
BTW- I love your photos on lightstalkers.
Asher
martin…
do not throw away your wife’s paintings!!!
bob….
you are the literary maestro….thanks for the “hijack”…..
now, all of you can see how i really operate…i get all of you to do all of the work!!!
cathy…
i do not think “authorship” matters if the work is in the “first person” or in the “third person” i.e. mary ellen mark…that is just her way of dealing with her subject matter which is fair enough…
and she is an author…but, so is gregory crewdson who is totally “manufacturing” his scenarios…or cindy sherman who only depicts herself…
you can be an author of fiction or of non-fiction..and who is to say which is the “greater truth”?
and you do not have to “like” the work of all authors…but, an appreciation of authorship at all gives credit to the rarest scrap of human endeavor….to do something that has never been done before…this is the nature of our being…
to be an “author” you MUST have something “on your mind”, a “pain in your gut” that must be sated….you must have “something to say”….a voice….a point of view…
whether you are looking out the window as a journalistic voyeur or looking in the mirror as an artistic narcissist, your “description” of either, or some carefully placed stance in between, must be a song from the heart…
uwe…
yes, yes..in every mention on this forum about our effort, i have mentioned the need for text if text is needed…
amy…
no, you are not the only one….but, like writers, some photographers go in kicking and screaming and others go with the flow…everybody “psychs up” in a different way….
david
Wow! Bob and David…to come home this evening and read your inspirational words…thanks so much for a great ending to a wonderful birthday. A gift that will stay with me always.
I’ve asked questions and been involved in discussions before on photography websites and workshops, with photo “buddies” and so forth but never have I encountered the caliber of conversations that take place on this blog. It’s a great group with a great leader.
cathy….
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
and many thanks for your comments….it is the comments from all of you that make all of this work and worthwhile…
cheers, david
Thanks Michael, for the link to the pine ridge essay.
I agree with you, the questions are fascinating, I mean ever-fascinating. So, they don’t really need an answer.
Authorship needs not to be selected determinated beforehand, I am not sure if this is what Cathy was wondering about though.
I think in photography, if you are totally honest with yourself, then you are an author, and like Bob says, it migt be the crappiest style of authorship, yet have the unmistakable stamp only you can put on it.
Compare this with all the “good” shots we may take, that someone else could have taken, telling a story someone else told before, and that if you are honest with yourself, you know you are re-telling only.
As Bob pointed out, you unlearn more than you learn when it comes to speaking one’s voice in art, because when you do that, you can be sure it will soon lead you into unchartered territories, along a path that you alone can tread upon.
As usual, easier said than done, because there are so many past references we can fall upon in photography.
Damned, you guys were having a birthday bash when I was writing all this above. Ok, let me catch the end of the party:
Happy Birthay Cathy!
PS: I am very proud because a friend here has entrusted me to be his editing eye for his assignment, for what it’s worth! So that’s what I am working at tonight.
bobblack,
My English language is not sufficiently to understood your long stories, but I’m sure wise your words are.
“i write because it’s a part of me.
i photograph because its a part of me.
i live because i am alive. “
great words, you are not only good photographer!
And you mention Czesław Miłosz’s poetry!
Martin
David,
If I have time to September 24 I will send my story as I promised. but I’ll do it in last day. I must leave today.
Martin
Herve,
yes I must say that your offer to edit my story was really more than I could have even THOUGHT of asking someone. I also think it will be invaluable to me, really for you to take time out of your life to do it is fantastic. Big Thanks.
Hey Dave and Michael,
I have just uploaded 20 pics to you
Campbell_Glenn001 – 20
Salute
regarding photos as failures and the number that don’t seem to quite make it…it is a wonderful feeling to be satisfied with the images that i make but it the quest for those images, no matter how few and far between, that compells me to the next and the next image. For me (and it’s certainly not an original sentiment) it’s about the journey and the striving to see not just look..to see and understand and then translate that to an image that can resonate with others. it gives me a greater appreciation for life and what is going on around me.. photo is a tool to do just that. it is like seeing through a telescope or a microscope..with a camera you see things that you may otherwise overlook and it is facinating and addictive.
like cathy said thanks for the site, i’m here often and i apprciate reading all the comments that people have taken the time to write. if i find just one thing everyday just imagine at the end of the month i’ve learned 30 new things!
David :)))…remember, please, when you not busy (like when Is THAT? ;) ), steal some time for John’s Quest for Land I wrote you about (better to pay attention to that than my own silly song)…and u are the real maestro here: he that allows the rest to sing :)))…
Martin: :))..thanks amigo. indeed, i love Milosz, always have, but not only him, many many of the great Polish poets :))))) (filmamkers, writers, photographers too )
Cathy: happy birthday :))…thanks for the wonderful words…
Asher :))…thanks so much for your kind words, i really appreciate that, specially about the pics :)))
Glenn C: yo, Im happy you are showing: I LOVE YOUR ESSAY BROTHER…as you know :))
running to call Moscow :))
off now for a few days :))
hugs
bob
Wow…Bob Black. Inspiring fellow you are! I read your stuff, see your work and all I can think is, hope I meet that guy someday!
I am ever striving for something approximating “authorship.” And, Damn!, is it hard! Usually happens when I least expect it. When I don’t even know it. Kind of like being in the zone. Everything is fluid, smooth with emotion.
I’m particularly happy with the recent submission to David…nothing may come from it, but I am happy. I approached things slightly differently…maybe I should have approached it “greatly” differently? Not sure. But I feel OK about it. But then, tomorrow I may not feel that way at all! Always happens. In fact I’m sure it will happen. Oh, christ, how could I have thought that was any good! Too late, now, eh? (But that’s tomorrow.)
Anyway… constant failures, yes. Even more so on this end! But it’s getting there. It is mine. Struggling for less “constant failures.” Thanks for the inspiration.
Must go shoot.
MK
bob…
are you going to be in new york any time in the next couple of weeks?? i would love to have you drop by and jam a bit with my students….
like michael, i feel we must meet in person….
what will that be like???
David: i would love to….i originally (as I mentioned) planned to come down in late sept/early oct, but plans have changed do to so much unforseen problems in Moscow with Mrs. Black…wearing. my son returns this sunday, and Im hoping to come down (my gift to Marina) when she gets back: just now all is up in the air until things are finalized there: she is supposed to return on 9 Oct, but might have to extend until late october…when are your workshops? (i know you’ll be in Thailand until Nov. for the Harvey Workshop)…it might have to wait until then: all depends on the russian judicial system…i should know more by next week’s end….
ditto about meeting: i’ve got a nice hug and bottle of ice wine for you (which i might give to chris anderson to give you when he comes up for his WPP)…
i’ll know more in next week….
i feel the same about you, 100%
meeting in person: im same as here: you’ll have to ask chris a after we meet then ;)))…im same spirit as here (only I snort when i laugh ;)) )
running
b
I’m doing hard editing on a set before trying to do the editing for the submission. Hopefully helps. Damn, David, it’s hard… and many of the pictures haven’t ‘rested’ for long enough to know their real value. Plus all the developing and scanning and processing. Argh :-D
of course; most of us pass througt edition suffering.But i have a question about it: does exists objective rules in this hard process? i mean, there are anything repeat: ANYTHING that I should know about it??. because i used to let me guide by my instinct, and usually i can´t explain exactly what is what i see in a pictures i’ve taken that makes me love or hate it, and this sensation of haven’t words to explain myself is a little bit frustrating.
sorry, i’m not very good with words,and probably that is one of the reasons why i make photographs.
thanks for your time.
David,
…whether you are looking out the window as a journalistic voyeur or looking in the mirror as an artistic narcissist,…
That’s a great description or set of descriptions. I’d have given you an A in any of my writing courses.
et al
I do have a blog, but no one ever sees it; maybe some of you could comment on something. I usually try some of my newer photos on it.
I too (referring to some post of David’s somewhere) got started on blogging from looking Alec Soth’s work.
http://www.michaelashapiro.com/blog
Michael
lvm..
good question….i think the “rules” for the way pictures should be edited change so much over time, that there really are no “rules”…
every editor of every magazine, for example, has their own set of “rules” and if you are working for that person, then you we know what those rules are….every magazine has a “sensibility” and if you are a working professional you should definitely get a sense of their sensibility…BUT to not marry that sensibility, just be aware of it for practical reasons..
when i am teaching and a group of photographs is laying out in front of me on a table, i can quickly move things around a bit, do some sequencing and “show” a student perhaps how to think about things…this is really hard to explain online….i can do a lot here, but that is one of the things i cannot really show you…and besides, the way i would do it, may not be the way someone else would do it…
just do the best you can using your gut instinct…basically, it is not a good idea to repeat yourself in a sequence of pictures…if you have one really great picture of your dog sleeping on the porch, you probably do not need another one , no matter how good it is….
the biggest mistake i see with portfolios is exactly that…repetition of an idea…3 pictures of something, where 1 would suffice…do not show anyone how many good pictures you have of exactly the same thing…for example, 10-15 strong visuals that are all related, but do not literally repeat, is probably a good place to start…
we will keep talking about this subject here for awhile i think…it is very important..thanks for asking
david
The Humans should be able to focus on hundreds of photos, not on several.
So many beautiful pictures dying in millions dark archives.
then we could have not problems with editing at all.
Hmmm, very long stories… like life is…
;)
David…
I think your post above pretty much tells me I need to rethink, indeed reshoot my entire project. Or maybe just do a better job of editing. Ugh! In either case, and as I said in a post elswhere on this site, I can’t believe I actually thought those were worthy. This happens far too much. I think really need help.
MK
“Winogrand died of gall bladder cancer, in 1984 at age 56, leaving behind nearly 300,000 unedited images, as well as more than 2,500 undeveloped rolls of film” (Quote from an article about Garry Winogrand on Wikipedia).
20 years ago, reading about the hundreds of thousands of shots that Winogrand left unedited or undeveloped, people found it bizarre and tragic. After the digital revolution, almost every passionate photographer will come to a point where they think: this is my situation too.
We shoot ten times as much as in the film days, and if we, as most of us do, publish stuff on the net, we tend to ignore the art of editing our pictures (not to mention our words, because the same applies to all the -mostly unread – blogs on the web; they exist out there, in a limbo, like undeveloped rolls of text). Editing our own stuff is much harder than finding someone else who has that rare talent.
Not all of us will suffer and die from gall bladder canser, but we will certainly die, and most of our pictures and images will disappear like Winogrands undeveloped rolls of film, not because all of us lack talent, but because we don´t know how to deal with the unexpected, and almost impossible task of being our own editors.
Michael:
just send you 021-036….i had problems with my connection to transfer…sorry…i just re-uploaded #36…
at your convenience (no rush), please confirm that you have Black_Bob_021 – Black_Bob_036
cheers,
running
bob
“the biggest mistake i see with portfolios is exactly that…repetition of an idea”
Ah! I read this now…I’ve learned a lot from the very process of submiting this project.
Excuse my English
hello Mr david Alan harvey, I wanted to greet a young photographer Colombian even I already have some time doing photos think that would be much better if only a moment to speak with you, really would like to know and take a course though my economy is not very good , so we just talk to you via e serious enough for my soul.
Excuse my English
hello Mr david Alan harvey, I wanted to greet a young photographer Colombian even I already have some time doing photos think that would be much better if only a moment to speak with you, really would like to know and take a course though my economy is not very good , so we just talk to you via e serious enough for my soul.