It’s amazing what a difference a year of Project 52 made for me. Last year I remember struggling mightily to develop my vision statement for the first assignment. This year it was a joy to revisit what I posted, tweak, refine, reassess, etc. The weekly assignments last year truly helped me find my voice and now it’s just a matter of refining.
One thing I discovered, which was reflected in my updated statement for the 2012 assignment one,was a large part of my vision is simplicity. I love clean, simple photos. To me there is a lot of power in that aesthetic.
Those of you who know me know that I live in New York City, in Manhattan to be precise. I don’t own a car – I take the subway. My office for my day job is in the middle of Times Square. . . needless to say, I am inundated with images day in and day out. Prior to Project 52, I have to admit, I had become so saturated that I started tuning everything out. Go about my day – get where I need to go – try not to knock over any tourists in the process. However, as I started studying images and developing better visual literacy, I started taking note again. Ads in subway stations, on subway cars, in thousands of watt seconds of light in Times Square. I started noticing lighting, composition, etc. I started noting what made the image work and what I felt made it not work.
A couple of weeks ago I was on my way to my normal spot on the subway platform and a new advertisement literally made me stop in my tracks. I noticed the Target promotion for their grocery section of the store.
I saw it, related to it, and instantly recognized that it fit my vision of photography perfectly. Clean, simple, powerful (and beautifully lit!). Same day, I was on the other end of my commute walking through the subway station and saw another ad from the same series. A kid making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with no bread – the clean shot of the bread was on the right. (unfortunately, I am unable to find the image online – I hope to add it soon). Then today I was in the subway station again and saw this ad for the season premiere of Mad Men:
Love it! Again, it says so much without saying much at all. Granted, it’s not a photo, but the aesthetic remains.These things are jumping off the page at me now.
So, as you are working through the assignments this year, keep your eyes open! Make note of what strikes you. If you are still searching for your vision, try out some of what speaks to you and see if it’s a fit. If it doesn’t work then learn from the experience and try something else. Take risks. This is an amazing community that is the most supportive environment for risk taking around.
I love walking around NY, SF, Chi and LA and seeing all the visuals that are splashed on walls and buildings and windows. Some very powerful imagery can be found out there… But you have to SEE it, not just look at it.
Big difference between seeing and looking…
Great post, Rob. One of our new people emailed me last night asking if I had any advice, and I said much the same as you. Dig deep, find out what makes yourself tick, give yourself permission to be okay with it, and pursue it. You won’t regret it!
Thanks, Em! Love your advice – you are absolutely right.
Don – you really drove that point home last year. You helped all of us to start SEEING images. I see so much more after last year. Still have much to learn, too.