I’m currently writing this while I wait for Mickey’s plane to get in… hopefully, I’ll get my thoughts out before the plane arrives as then I’ll be able to just send it on Monday when I get some internet access again. Otherwise, I’ll have to try and pick up the thought where I left off, which tends to be kind of messy…
In your last letter, you wondered aloud whether or not I’d felt I’d learned anything this semester, or whether it had simply been too scattered. I’m inclined to say “YES!” I feel like I’ve learned a lot. At least on one side of things. I’ve been thinking about photography and the underlying process surrounding it quite a bit over the past few months, and feel that I’ve learned quite a bit through those meditations, as well as the books that helped foster those thoughts.
That said, I can agree that I have not quite advanced in my actual techniques quite as much as I’d like. Of the “Philosophy and Craft”, I’ve definitely focused more on the philosophy, and less on the craft. There are a variety of reasons for this, and I could come up with easily a dozen excuses (“the situations didn’t come up!” yeah right, the situations are always there, I just wasn’t always prepared for them, nor made time for them). I feel bad about this, but not too horribly, as I really do feel like my grasp of the process (mental, emotional, spiritual? All of the above!) of photography, and in general the crafting of art, has improved greatly. I feel that I have not only regained the level of knowledge I had before, but have surpassed it. This gives me great hope in my endeavors to do excellent, original artwork. I’m not really interested in “emulating the greats”, nor repeating what has become mainstream (not to say that I won’t do images that could be considered mainstream… just saying that if and when I do, it will be because I feel that a particular technique that happens to be mainstream is the appropriate tool for the job).
(Side note: I should go to Manchester Airport late at night to take pictures… I’m spotting all sorts of patterns in the structure and lighting, and it might make an interesting study.)
Okay, I think the thought is done for now.