Look within

My photography book collection is rather small: just a handful of volumes I really adore.

Books are an important source of inspiration, and I'd definitely have more if I had a permanent home. But I can't help to think that keeping it small has helped my photography in many unexpected ways.

I lack formal education in the arts, even less in photography. I didn't have a mentor either. I learned many things from work I was seeing online, and from the books I do own, but most of what I know, I gained from experience alone. From the daily practice of photography.

Of course my work and myself as a person are heavily influenced by others. We are humans after all, we don't live in a vacuum. But the lack of formal knowledge and understanding of photography made me freer than I would be otherwise.

Free from comparisons, free from following the rules, and free from not following the rules. I was doing photography for the sake of photography.

This is still true today. For example, I try not to look at other photographer's images of a place I'm going to visit soon. I like to see it myself first, to take it all in with an empty mind, free from preconceived ideas, and make the images I see. Then, I might take a look, often to realize just how different or how similar we saw that location. It's fun.

There's a lot value in studying someone else's work, but sometimes, it's more fun to go somewhere with an open mind and try to create something different. Something that comes from within.

The Photography Sage

View fullsize

A Sage is someone who has achieved wisdom. According to Donald Robertson in Stoicism and the Art of Happiness, the Stoics saw this person as

someone perfectly wise and good, giving the aspiring Stoic direction, structure, and consistency in her practice

In this context, a Sage would be a role model, someone to be emulated.

Many times, I like to put myself in other photographer's skin and try to see the way they would see (or the way I think they would see, at least). I also have a fictional photography Sage I try to emulate.

What characteristics would a photography Sage have?

• A photography Sage looks at familiar and strange subjects the same way, like it were the first time they see them. They travel but also photograph at home.
• They are forever beginners. They keep an open mind because they know photography isn't a recipe to follow, but constant experimentation.
• They are inspired by other photographers but try to add their own twist.
• A photography Sage is not afraid of sharing their work. Actually, they create to share and inspire others.
• They don't wait until inspiration hits them, they look for it with action. They take the first photo.
• They realize the way to make better images is go further, higher, deeper, for longer. New camera gear isn't the answer.
• They always push themselves: a photography Sage knows that those days when they don't feel like going out are the most important ones, because those are the ones that will define you as a photographer.
• They are always thinking about photography, even when they don't have a camera with them. Always trying to find something to capture, always trying to visualize that final image.

These are some of the virtues my own photography Sage would have, and the ones I try to emulate. Of course, I fail often if not most of the time, but they give me a sense of direction and serve as a guide.

What about you? What would your role model look like?

They're not here to capture an image, but to maintain one

Nobody sees the barn. Once you've seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn.

They're not here to capture an image, we're here to maintain one. Every photograph reinforces an aura... We've agreed to be part of a collective perception. A religious experience in a way, like tourism...

They are taking pictures of taking pictures.

A quote from the novel The White Noise mentioned in this video, which Rachel shared with me because it reminded her of this post.