I’ll bet it’s the same for you and I think today’s quote might help us understand better whether we are… or not.
“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.” – Louis Nizer
Am I a laborer, a craftsman or an artist?
At any one time I am one of the three. I suppose it depends on the task at hand. I always aspire to be an artist but at the very least I hope to be a solid craftsman when I make my photographs and artistic images. Sometimes I am just a laborer. And I then try to either elevate the work on the next go ’round or not to perform that particular job again.
How much of yourself do you put into your work?
Laborer? Craftsman? Artist? Which are you??
And why do you think so?
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Louis Nizer practiced law (successfully) for the rich and famous. In addition he wrote, spoke and advised some of the most powerful people in the world… Here’s another quote that you might not know where it came from and is attributed to Nizer, “When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing at himself.”
An interesting thought for today’s Photo/Art Quote from Freeman Patterson. It’s not really something I’ve thought about much over the years. I guess as I’ve been exploring photography as more of an artistic endeavor verses a realistic process I would be attracted to this thought.
“The camera always points both ways. In expressing your subject. You also express yourself.” Freeman Patterson
I’m going to guess that this is the reason if you give ten photographers the same subject to photograph you will end up with ten different images. I also believe that the story given when the subject is presented to a photographer can have a huge impact on the final outcome.
Witness Canon giving six photographers the same person to photograph who told each photographer a different story about his life and got six VERY different photographs in return.
Canon video of six stories and six results. One subject.
Spend some time thinking about this and please share your thoughts. This is one of those things that fascinate me.
We are photographers but within our chosen medium we have many ways of bringing attention to our subjects. Composition, lighting, color, tone and contrast all plat a part. But if we examine our work a bit more in depth we will see we at, any one time, one of these tends to come forward more often than not in our images.
Which brings me to today’s Photo/Art Quote by prolific artist Georgia O’Keeffe.
“I found I could say things with colors and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way – things I had no other words for.” Georgia O’Keeffe
So may I suggest when creating your art you give thought to the idea, whether it be portrait, fine art or move to the forefront, your message in the creation of your images. I believe if you think with this in mind you will begin to see your creativity grow.
If you’ve been following me for very long you know I’m a big fan of self-assignments to grow skills and earn new business. As a matter of fact, in putting together programs to teach other photographers about this I came to the realization that I’ve built a large part of my career by doing just that. I’ve built skill sets and gained new clients by giving myself a project as if I was the client. What kind of things?? Things like designing an art piece featuring a business or designing a magazine cover or line of T-shrts. Then taking the resulting work to the potential client and often ended up with pay for doing work I did to learn. At the very least, even if the client didn’t buy that piece of work, they were made aware of my capabilities. In addition, I would enter the resulting images in Competition and sometimes be fortunate enough to win an award or two and generate press release opportunities.
Which brings us to today’s Photo/Art Quote which I think shows you that even if you get no work it’s a great way to jump start your creativity.
“Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.” (Elizabeth Gilbert)
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If you are part of a photo group looking for inspired speaking programs I am available. As a Panasonic Lumix Luminary sponsorship is available to eliminate or cut down the cost of having the presentation. Check on the seminars page for more information about this program or others available or give me a call to chat about options and possibilities.
Sometime we take ourselves and business a bit too seriously.
Raise your hand if this describes you. (if you could see me my hand would be stretched high!) I know I can be guilty of this sometimes myself. It’s necessary to concentrate and push and practice in order to become better in our craft of photography. But sometimes it’s just time to take a quick break for a laugh.
So in today’s Photo/Art quote I give a nod to that oft quoted person that goes by the name of Anonymous.
“He had a photographic memory which was never developed.” Anonymous
If you know of a humorous photographic quote I’d love to hear about it. Have a great Sunday!
I guess cause I got involved in a photo art project, then watched some football while quaffing some fine IPA beer followed by a cruise through the New York Times Newspaper.
If this kind of Sunday keeps up I may have to change the name of this post to Monday Photo/Art Quote… We’ll see how it goes.
So today we talk about disappointment…
“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment.” Ansel Adams
Ever return from a photo shoot excited to view your images only to have your hopes and dreams dashed upon the rocks of reality that can be the review process? I know I have. Less so these days because I’ve come to learn that not matter how much knowledge I have in the realm of photography I still can’t always see as the camera sees. It takes years and years of study and continual practice to have this happen less often but the heartbreak can still occur. Ansel Adams is known as one of the most iconic nature photographers of his time and yet you probably don’t know that he was extremely happy and excited if he was able to create twelve images in a year that he was happy with.
TWELVE images in a year.
So the next time you get down on yourself for not creating the images exactly the way you thought they were going to be just say to yourself, “Remember Ansel!”
And then get back out there and try again.
Your in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to create “The Image”. Keep shooting and educating yourself and practicing and it will come. I promise.
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“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.” – Louis Nizer
