I am a photographer. I am not necessarily good at all, but it is the most the one thing I would do every day for free if I could, and I would like to do it till the day I die. Photography is what inspires me to do one of the other things I love to do more than anything, which is to see. The ability to see does not distinguish us as a species. It is what we do with that image in our minds that distinguish us from other seeing beings, and our ability to imagine more than is apparent. We also are able to judge things as pleasing aesthetically. We see and organize things in our heads, and when we see certain ordering, it pleases our senses. This comes from our ability to associate ideas and patterns, and to fill in the blanks. These concepts can be taught academically,. and of course are in colleges and universities all over the world.
Despite all the teaching, Art is also a natural skill, one that often exists in a person before a class begins, a book is opened, or a teacher is employed. Either way, it is what makes photography so much more than “just pressing a button.” The natural predisposition to photography is much like the predisposition an athlete seems to have towards sport, or a Grand Master has towards Chess. The best performances come often as a result of natural ability and training.
I think that what I am feeling like is that I am too dependent upon a natural ability that just isn’t there. I need to put more effort into training, and into working more with a particular subject, rather than walking up, seeing what I think I want, then pulling the trigger like some gunner in a warzone who gets a kill, but doesn’t knock ‘em dead! Five points for effect, naught for style.
So here and now I acknowledge a problem, and ask myself what I am going to do to correct it. I do not at this point believe that study under a mentor is what I now need, but rather, a personal reassessment and independent study which I believe will allow me to continue to develop my own style. I also believe that the primary work I need is not in Photoshop, but behind the camera, where the real kill is made with a camera. I believe that what I need is to be able to pick a subject and work it till I have learned to see it.
So I ask myself if I am willing to commit myself to such an endeavor, or do I want to push it under the rug to mull for another day? The answer may seem so obvious, but because of the time commitment it represents, it is not. Am I willing to distract from other things at this time because of everything else that is going on? Add a careful study of photography to the top of the pile of book son horses, ducks, chickens, gardening, and to the top of building a website, and raising a family, and the actual work required of me around the house, or the planning required to do all of that work, in the 2.3 acres of yard surrounding me, and settling into a new community, mentoring children, mediating arguments, and so on, and son on, because mind you, I am leaving loads of stuff out here..!!
Truth is, there is only one way to get the results I want, so I had better put another log on the fire, and get ready to camp out with my camera. No worries about finding subjects matter. I have long ago outgrown the “I don’t know what to shoot/write about mentality. Choosing subject matter is easy. It is sticking with it and working it that is most difficult for me.
So there you have. Kelsey Bacon on his photography, and what it lacks. I am sure there is more to come on this matter in the future!
Ta,
Kelsey J Bacon
Logandale, NV