When I was a teenager, I was a Canadian expat living in a US border town whose main interest outside of a rapidly growing fascination with photography primarily consisted of the acquisition and digestion of as much music as I could get my hands on. I mainly listened to a lot of punk, and even as I grew up there were certain things about that movement that stuck with me: bits of lyrics, simple lessons, a strong DIY ethic, etc.
But it was the saying Talk – Action = 0, a slogan of Vancouver band D.O.A. that always resonated with me most. Even though it was originally meant to relate to politics and activism, the idea of words that aren’t backed up by taking real action being meaningless always felt appropriate when I thought about my photography and other creative endeavors, and I think it's a lesson that a lot of photographers would benefit from taking to heart.
We've all run into the photographer who has a million good ideas and two million excuses as to why they'll never pull them off:
“Plane tickets are too expensive.”
“I don’t have a studio.”
“My camera isn’t good enough.”
“I need better lights.”
“People won't like my images.”
They can talk themselves out of anything before they even get close to starting. Others might be so tied up in their past successes that they spend most of their time talking about a shot they took years ago and might have difficulty moving on to new projects. Sometimes the reasons for not pursuing ideas are more internal and might be due to dealing with some issues related to self-sabotage or impostor-syndrome (both of which can affect photographers at any time in their career, not just emerging shooters), that can leave them frozen in place and verbally beating themselves up, talking more about why they think their work sucks rather than making new images or improving their skills.
There's a good chance that all of us, at one point or another, are going to deal with some of these issues. It's a natural part of being in a creative career, and despite our best intentions and discipline we sometimes slip into bad habits and negative patterns of thought that can really throw us off our game. Some people talk about their work and creative issues as a therapeutic and cathartic action, seeking advice and working through problems with others so that they can move forward, and having a discourse about how photography interacts with culture, commerce, and art is hugely important. But, sometimes, we start to use talking about our work as a surrogate for actually making it. People tend to take the path of least resistance. Talking about making work is a lot easier than actually doing it, and it takes a lot less effort to sit still than to start walking. But as Mark Twain supposedly said, “The best way to get ahead is to get started.”
Up until very recently I shared a studio with a guy who is a perfect example of putting your money where your mouth is. Scott Gable has self-funded a number of high risk trips around the world to capture some amazing stories. He's traveled to Alaska to photograph the commercial salmon fishing season, and most recently he spent four months trekking through China, Taiwan, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam to create a series on the rice harvest (the first part in a planned trilogy about the world's staple food products of rice, corn, and wheat).
I could think of a million reasons someone might talk themselves out of going to China, Alaska, or even across their own state – people can talk themselves out of anything, especially when money is on the line. But rather than looking for reasons to say no, Scott wholeheartedly said yes to every opportunity he had, and where he didn’t have them, he made them.
Don't speak the language? Scott took Mandarin lessons for months leading up to the trip.
Don't have a client willing to send you? Scott saw this as an investment in his work and funded these projects himself, often with his credit card (he calls it his most valuable tool).
Don't know where to start? Scott reached out to programs like the Cornell Rice Intensification program who helped make introductions with several of the programs and contacts he worked with during his trip. He also hit the books, doing extensive research on rice production in the region.
Sometimes you have to get dirty to chase the images in your head. This wasn't a trip full of luxury hotels and creature comfort, on the contrary. And despite all of his careful preparation, Scott often found himself hiking inaccessible footpaths for days at a time, being sheltered and fed by people he met on his trip, and getting close to his subjects.
The results were unbelievably intimate portraits of people in all aspects of rice production, from rural cultivators to industrial workers in larger cities who were involved in the later stages of the process. Scott created stunning portraits of the people he met and created gorgeous landscape images of farmlands and valleys where huge amounts of the world's base nutrition come from. He's also created a short film about his work and experiences on this trip.
While you may not be in a position right now to self-fund a trip across the world to photograph the rice harvest of a half dozen countries, the spirit of what Scott did is accessible to everyone, at any point of their career.
Whereas Scott is fairly established in his niche, I also want to talk about a photographer who is just entering this business. Valerie Kasinski is one of the most exciting young artists working in Western NY right now. She recently graduated from Villa Maria College's photo program and has been an active part of WNY's ASMP chapter, which is where I first met her. Val even interned for me for a little while, and I've always been really impressed by her work and her dedication to making the images in her head real.
While Scott Gable has traveled the world to document and connect with other communities, Valerie has had her own share of journeys and adventures in her efforts to connect with a community she already belongs to. Part of a loose group of creatives that she originally met through Flickr, Val and her online friends have become something of a real life photographic family.
At a time when a lot of students were focusing on taking the easy way out with their work, or focusing only on their given assignments, Val was taking days long cross-country train trips to create work and collaborate on projects with this group. When other photographers can't find a reason to interact with their local photo community, Val has traveled all over the United States and Canada to create work that explores portraiture, nature, and her own fascination with self-created worlds. Her current project, Together We Are, has grown out of the relationships that she's built and the community she's worked hard to be part of.
She could have stayed home.
She could have slept late.
She could have decided to try something easier.
But she worked at it, built those relationships, took those long trips to get where she wanted to make the images she was chasing. I know thirty-year veterans of this business that aren't that dedicated to their work, who won’t pick up their camera unless they're getting paid for it.
I've seen too many photographers with ambitions like Scott and Valerie stall. They talk a good game about what they want to make, where they want to go, the endgame is right there for them. But the product never seems to materialize – It's like their own goals are outrunning them. Eventually it starts, that litany of excuses that we talked about; a million reasons why they can't, won't, or shouldn't see their vision through. They can't go anywhere because they never really get started. They’re so mired in the holes that they have dug themselves into mentally.
But you have got to remember that big things start with small steps. So send that email, set that date, take that first shot – do whatever you have to do to build momentum. Yes, there are going to be walls, but you can break through them, if not all at once, then brick by brick. And once you start, once you begin to generate that momentum it is so much easier to break through those walls, the ones that circumstance puts there, and more importantly, the ones we put in our own way.
So right now, this second, make a commitment to yourself to stop talking about that project you always wanted to pursue, and take those first actions towards actually doing it.
Luke was kind enough to share the work of other photographers he admires here today, and you should also check out his work at LukeCopping.com, and follow him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
I think the best picture on the web
http://tinyurl.com/qcbx777
There is always a reason you can’t do something, just have to learn how to do what you can with what you have.
Even today, I have too many excuses to not do things. A hard habit to break.
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES.
All of my YES.
I had ideas rattling around for WAY too long and finally started one of my big projects a whole year later and now I wonder why in the world I ever sat on it. I was nervous and shy but once I got the first shots of the series under my belt I made mood-boards and reached out to models and made firm dates to shoot the rest. I am fully making 2015 my Year of Action and have already laid a track well into 2017 that will take me to the other side of the world. I’m so excited!
I love it. Luke Copping took this opportunity to motivate and help others. He’s my superhero.