crisis of confidence

[rogerchristian]

You have changed, photography has changed, your tastes and that of those around you have changed.

You have also improved, that is why you look back and realize you are not as good then as you are now.

Change and with luck improvement are constant.

I am the world's worst photographer, but I enjoy the process, equipment and the feeling I get.

It isn't always about the output, sometimes it is about the process, that and teaching new people every day what I know and have learned over 50+ years.

I still shoot virtually ALL film, when I get a chance. Not always successfully, but usually yo learn more from failures than successes.

Keep at it!

 

[Papa Smurf]

Didn't Hugh Hefner say that?

Didn't Hugh Hefner say that?

If it works for you, it works for you. Personally I'd rather give up photography than be limited to a Holga.

The only reason for posting this is to reinforce the point, made elsewhere, that what works for one person won't necessarily work for another.

Tashi delek,

R.

A long, long time ago when I thought that Playboy was The literary magazine of the ages, there was an article about the human male and his preference for a particular body, hair color, face shape, etc., of the human female. The point of the article was that if every male preferred the exact same characteristics in a female partner, the human race would be in trouble big time. Art and especially photo art, seems to work the same. Some of the images that have appeared in high brow photography magazines look to me like they were taken by dizzy blonde not quite certain on how to work her camera. I am a no talent photographer, but I don't care. I enjoy taking pictures of my family, friends, pets, sunsets, old barns,,,, I guess that I just like to take pictures of how I see things as they are now. Technically correct, usually, compositionally correct, sometimes, aesthetically correct, maybe, sometimes. But, who cares, I take pictures for my enjoyment, not to statisfy a client (I tried that, weddings, too many critics with a Kodak Instamatic and not a clue), nor an editor, just me. The totally ironic thing is that someday someone might find a box of my of negatives at a yard sale and I will become "discovered!" 😀

 

[Vics]

What do you do when you've looked back over your past work (10 years worth for me) and everything you see leaves you cold?

I still love taking photos and working them into finished pieces. But, jeez, if all I'm churning out is mediocre crap, then what's the point? There are hundreds of thousands of people doing that already.

What the hell do you do if all you have is chaff and no wheat?

Then you start over and do something different! Best,
Vic

 

[wlewisiii]

Free your mind, and your glass will follow.


- Barrett

"Remember what the dormouse said..." 😱

William

 

[Chris101]

If I felt like that I would burn everything I had ever done, photos, drawings, paintings, negatives, and all those CDs and DVDs too.. Come to think of it, I would also break off all of my relationships and quit my job, abandon my house and pets, move to LA and live in a seedy hotel room that smelled of stale smoke and dried out bodily functions. I would perform all sorts of undesirable acts to eek out a minimal existence.

Then I'd feel justified in feeling sorry for myself.

That sounds pretty good, let's do it.

Tempting ...

But I like my work.

Uh, ... woeful and grungy though it may be. Eventually you accept that, no matter what, you are just gonna be who you are. No more, no less, and probably not just like anybody else. If you want to continue to make things (photographs in this case) keep at it.

Otherwise, don't. Who knows. Maybe wedding photography in LA (among other undesireable acts) will turn out not to be the eighth level of Hell after all.

 

[dacaccia]

What do you do when you've looked back over your past work (10 years worth for me) and everything you see leaves you cold?

I still love taking photos and working them into finished pieces. But, jeez, if all I'm churning out is mediocre crap, then what's the point? There are hundreds of thousands of people doing that already.

What the hell do you do if all you have is chaff and no wheat?

this is definitely untrue 😎 - but your eyes are veiled with your own existential crisis. Isn't it?

To come to true worthy results you should stop thinking for a while. Just LIVE in the presence, do things you like, but do not think about them. Enjoy summer, enjoy your life, maybe do something completely new. If you like. If not - don't do it.

Then, after a few weeks or months of simply living, of breathtaking - then have again a look on your life, on your photographic work. You will easily find out in which way you developed. Everyone does: this is life. - You may find sort of "waves", periods you were more involved in your photo scenes, or less. This is normal, ups and downs bring you to more development.

Therefore this crisis you feel will bring you forward again. But - to come out of it you must get distance to it, you must have room to breathe.

Don't worry - just do it.

Cheers,
dacaccia

 

[wlewisiii]

What do you do when you've looked back over your past work (10 years worth for me) and everything you see leaves you cold?

99% of the time you, literally & generically, can not edit your own works. Shut up. Shoot. Let a real editor decide what is worth a damn. If you're like me, occasionally print a decent shot of a family member and hang it on the wall. Otherwise, shut up & shoot some more.

Nothing personal; been there, done that, tossed the T-shirt in the trash because I just know that I can't judge very much about my own work. Neither can you. I know what I like - it's almost never what anyone else likes. So?

The first time I bought a print was when I was walking down the hall of my high school. I was stopped short by an exquisite print of a local bridge in the middle of winter. I ducked inside the classroom to find out whose print it was and offered him $20 on the spot. I can't say for you but to my current situation that's like offering several thousand dollars today. He was flustered and tried to refuse. I forced him to take the money and still have the print to this day, 27 years later. I am also sure he probably still thinks I'm certifiable...

William

 

[kuzano]

Deleted them.. Threw them out.. BTDT.... HFM

Deleted them.. Threw them out.. BTDT.... HFM

HUGE _________ MISTAKE!!!

Vision changes
Perception changes
Technology changes
Mood changes by the moment and the circumstance you are in at any given time.

Been shooting since the fifties. Have walked away from box after box of prints, negs and transparencies because of the very place you are in right now.

If I had all those images archived and I went through them now, I would have a whole different view of all that work. I would see images within, that I never had the eyes to see before.

Put them away, change your methods, change your subjects, change your equipment and media. Or, give it all up and go sailing, play golf, Ski, or Mountain Bike for entertainment. You'll spend the same money. You'll be fit or tanned, but the memories you make will be fleeting and hard to recall as you age because you gave up record keeping.

I don't know your age, but look at your kept archive of images again when you are 60 years old, or in another ten or twenty years.

Your perceptions of you images will truly be different, perhaps more rewarding and there will be some redemption in the work you see.

 

[skibeerr]

lOVE IS THE ANSWER

lOVE IS THE ANSWER

[quote

What the hell do you do if all you have is chaff and no wheat?[/quote]

I have no abundency of talent, eufemism, but found this solution.

I take two different kinds of Fotos, First the ones to learn about and test a camera, lens, film, flash or technique, and second and most important photographing people and things I love. Their presence in the picture make it keepers despite of the technical flaws and by doing the first kind of photography the second slowly improves.