Where do I go from here?
So it’s been a few weeks since I posted on my blog. No reason for that in particular, other than I didn’t feel I had much to say, with some time on holiday thrown in. I also haven’t been taking many photos over the summer and again no particular reason for that. This started me thinking as to where I am heading with my photography.
I have seen a lot of chatter online and across various forums recently where photographers are getting stressed out about not doing well in competitions, not getting “likes” and coming back from photo trips with nothing to show for it. The latter concern is one that I can associate myself with as I don’t enter competitions or chase “Likes”. I have mentioned in previous blogs about the fact that I have taken my camera gear on overseas holidays and never taken it out of the bag. I have done that a few times now and have no explanation for it. I’ve also taken my camera out with me at other times and never taken a shot. This at first became a cause for concern with me as over the years I have been quite prolific in my photography but I have taken some time out to try and understand why this may be.
First of all, I recognised that photography is but one of a few hobbies I have. I am not shooting to deadlines or have anyone to satisfy other than myself. I love taking photos and getting involved in the post processing side, but I am not going to allow it to dictate how I live my life. I see photographers on line getting way too stressed out and concerned that they have “photographer’s block”. I have spoken about this before in previous blogs but it seems to be a recurring theme. When I was younger with a lot less disposable income, the pace of my photography output was determined by whether I could afford film this week. Buying paper and chemicals was usually a save-up situation as paper in particular was expensive. I don’t remember ever being stressed out about it. I took pictures when I could, and if that was not possible I had to accept it and move on to something else.
It seems today though that with hundreds of shots available on a memory card, there is a pressure to get out there and shoot everything and anything to stay relevant in photography. I still believe that I am at times back in the 1970s with every shot having to be meaningful and properly exposed i.e. I still have a film mentality. I have never been one of the “spray and pray” brigade who shoot on motor drives and capture multiple versions of the subject in one shot so to speak. I see too many photos that are bland and have me questioning what I am supposed to be seeing. Street photography is a good example of this. I rarely post up photos and will only do so if they pass my personal scrutiny and critique. I have to believe in them. Too many people in my opinion are just posting images for the sake of it and making up rules to justify their work. For example, just because a woman is walking along with red shoes and a red handbag doesn’t to me qualify as street photography. It’s what women do, and it is therefore a woman walking down a street, boring.
During my period of reflection I also had to consider my age and health status as being contributors to my reduced shooting rate. I will be 68 on my next birthday and walking the streets for a full day can often result in joint pains and stiffness the following days. I have to realise that age is my enemy and make sure that I look after myself first and foremost. I also have a torn tendon in my right shoulder which can cause pain, especially when carrying a bag of equipment or having a camera in my right hand and having to lift it to my eye to grab a shot quickly.
I have concluded therefore that I am actually in a happy place when it comes to my photography these days. I will shoot when I can and if I cannot I will not get stressed or worried. I coped with this as mentioned previously during my early photography days. I have a vast back-catalogue of work that I can go back over and I have a whole folder of negative pages of aviation photos from the 70s and 80s, when military aviation was interesting. I need to get these scanned in and worked on. Photography does not control me, I control it!
That there London
Following on from my previous topic, London has always been a great source of inspiration for me when it comes to street photography. I first started going there back in the late 70s and have done so many many times since. I would pound the streets for hours on end each day covering as much ground as I could. Recent trips however have been very challenging for the reasons I gave in the previous topic. I love a good demonstration and recently there have been so many to choose from. Protest marches are my favourites. I don’t do Pride events as I see it like shooting fish in a barrel, and I have seen very few good shots (in my opinion), taken at these events. London though is not the same today as it was a few decades ago, it is far more dangerous. I have always seen it as a place where you need your wits about you at all times but it seems now to be even more dangerous to wander about alone, especially off the beaten tourist track. I read an article this week by a London based journalist where he documented what he witnessed on his way in and out of work in central London in one day. It was horrific, and the level of crime being committed in front of him was unbelievable. It has made me think twice about going back to central London alone with expensive camera gear and being at the mercy of feral youths on eScooters and bikes.