Projects or Greatest Hits

[johnastovall]

Another mediation from Letting Go the Camera, do you approach you work as "a project" or "greatest hits."

A project would be a defined focus of work where one produces many images in a specific context or of a specific subject over an extended period of time and then edits them to a finite and final set of images. Examples of would be Weston's Peppers, William Christenberry's Store in Greensboro, Alabama or Paul Strand's Tir a' Mhurain.

In contrast greatest hits is "Let's jump in the car, drive around until we see something interesting, jump out of the car, expose the negative, jump back into the car and move on to the next greatest hit." Jensen calls this the "Fred Picker school."

Which are you?

[Duffy Pratt]

I don't think of it that way, but I guess I do some of each. My project, to the extent that I have one, is to show dogs playing.

If I'm not taking pictures of dogs playing, then I'm probably just trying to get the most interesting shots that I can, regardless of subject. (And yes, I realize that a project could concentrate on something other than a subject -- a technique, a compositional style, etc, but I don't organize my thinking in that way either.)

Duffy

[Gordon]

I strive to do projects, though I struggle with the persistance required to apply myself. I'm working up to trying journaling, in the hope that might give me the kick in the butt I need.

Though catching up on Jensen's more recent podcasts, he seems to be moving towards the feeling that projects can last a day or so anyway, which starts feeling much more achieveable :)

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by Gordon

I strive to do projects, though I struggle with the persistance required to apply myself. I'm working up to trying journaling, in the hope that might give me the kick in the butt I need.

Though catching up on Jensen's more recent podcasts, he seems to be moving towards the feeling that projects can last a day or so anyway, which starts feeling much more achieveable :)

Not, 30 years like ChristenBerry's Store?

[Gordon]

The jist was that he felt the rate of image production (due to digital capture) seemed to be hotting up the production cycle for projects.

If it takes 500 pictures to get 10 good ones for a project and you are shooting/ developing/ printing glass plates, vs CF cards - then the possibility at least exists to do them more quickly.

Pros/cons, good and bad of this is left as an exercise for the reader :) That doesn't oviously mean you cant do long term projects - just they don't have to be.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by Gordon

The jist was that he felt the rate of image production (due to digital capture) seemed to be hotting up the production cycle for projects.

If it takes 500 pictures to get 10 good ones for a project and you are shooting/ developing/ printing glass plates, vs CF cards - then the possibility at least exists to do them more quickly.

Pros/cons, good and bad of this is left as an exercise for the reader :) That doesn't oviously mean you cant do long term projects - just they don't have to be.

The thing I see about a long project is it let me see the subject/place under many different lights and conditions. It forces to you to really look at the light involved and it's interaction with the subject and you. Also you will change over time and that can be critical to what you see.

[Daniel Bates]

I guess I do greatest hits... I take the camera and grab the bike and say "let's find something unique on this campus, something nobody has photographed in this way before". Then again, I do have a project in the Fish Drill Team, so I kind of do both, I guess...

--Daniel

[epoh]

More of the 'greatest hits' route, I'd say. My kids are definatly a 'project' though.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

I guess I do greatest hits... I take the camera and grab the bike and say "let's find something unique on this campus, something nobody has photographed in this way before". Then again, I do have a project in the Fish Drill Team, so I kind of do both, I guess...

--Daniel

You sound a bit like Garry Winogrand, "I photograph to see what the world looks like in photographs." or "Photography is not about the thing photographed. It is about how that thing looks photographed."

[Daniel Bates]

Yep. I've always liked that quote... that's one reason I'm enjoying my 12-24 lens so much, I guess; it has a unique way of representing everyday objects.

I also like the quote that goes something like "Don't show me the world from 5'9"--I already know what that looks like." I don't remember who said it, but I like that one too.

--Daniel

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

I also like the quote that goes something like "Don't show me the world from 5'9"--I already know what that looks like." I don't remember who said it, but I like that one too.

--Daniel

Sounds like something Bryan Peterson might have said in one of his books. He might have gotten it from someone else though.

[Gordon]

Originally Posted by JohnT

Sounds like something Bryan Peterson might have said in one of his books. He might have gotten it from someone else though.

Certainly someone short...

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by Gordon

Certainly someone short...

LOL Excuse me? I'm 5'9" but don't consider myself short.

[Daniel Bates]

I'm 5'11" or so. Anything under 6' is "short" to some people.

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

I'm 5'11" or so. Anything under 6' is "short" to some people.

You're above average with 5'9" being average for an American male.