Re: thoughts on Self-Portraits

gloria — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 16:24:26 -0000

well, I can't tell you if you should choose quality or quantity, but I can give you my input and hope it at leaves gives you another angle to think on. I don't know if it works the same way in photography that it does in writing, but sometimes quantity is important in getting to quality because it's just the process of keeping the creativity flowing. I post a lot of things I write, and some of it's complete shit, but I keep writing it and posting it b/c eventually something good will come out. If I quit writing altogether waiting for something better to write about, then sometimes I just run dry and it's hard to start again.

Re: thoughts on Self-Portraits

Sheridan — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 14:45:53 -0000

The interesting thing here is that you have asked two questions, and in my opinion each question has a different answer.

"So which do you think, overall, is the more interesting result?"

I think having less quantity with greater individual quality would be the more interesting result. I think, as a viewer, I would rather see one really good photo a week than seven simple portraits a week. Heck, I would even rather see one good photo a week than six plain photos and one good photo a week. It would help to make your work seem consistently better, and I would still have the rush of excitement I currently get when I see you have posted a new photo.

Which do you think will help me grow more as a person and as a photographer?

I think the answer to this question is the second option. I would not believe this to be true of any photographer, as many people would simply let themselves take the easy picture and that would be that. I know you well enough, however, to know that in your case you would put thought and effort into the less interesting pictures. You might not put as much effort into them as the interesting pictures, but you would still try and make each one good.

This means, not only will you continue challenging yourself everyday, you will also get more experience in trying to make things interesting that aren't inherently interesting.

So, in the tradition of the Elves from Tolkien's writings, I suppose I am saying yes and no at the same time.

You could also look for a third option. Maybe you take a self portrait everyday, but only post one every other day? This way you would still be putting in the work, but you could decided which photo (of at least two) makes the cut? Anyway, I hope at least some of this helps.

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Re: thoughts on Self-Portraits

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