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The Adventure of Art

In Creativity and Inspiration, Life Is Short, Pep Talks, The Craft, The Life Creative, Thoughts & Theory by David10 Comments

“Life,” said Helen Keller, “is either a daring adventure or it is nothing.” The same can be said about art and the effort to make it. Adventure is defined as ” a risky undertaking of unknown outcome, an exciting or unexpected event.” Risky. Unknown. Unexpected.  Art-making has a wildness to it, an untamed quality. I know I’ve written about this …

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More Important Than Good?

In Life Is Short, Pep Talks, Rants and Sermons, The Craft, The Life Creative by David22 Comments

Some of your photographs aren’t very “good”; they’re way more important than that.   You’ve felt it—I know you have. You’ve experienced the rush of making a photograph that turns out exactly as you planned. Perhaps better. It’s sharp in all the right places, the colours work together, and it has a certain je ne sais quoi that garners more …

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Creative Failure: Teacher or Trap?

In Creativity and Inspiration, Life Is Short, Pep Talks, Rants and Sermons, The Craft, The Italian Incident, The Life Creative, Thoughts & Theory, Uncategorized by David28 Comments

In the creative life very few things go the way we expect them to, and I suspect when they do, it’s because we’re not reaching far enough beyond our comfort zone, not risking enough. First steps into any new endeavour—whether that’s learning a new technique or beginning a new body of work—are not the steps that get you to a …

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Show Me Where You’re Brave

In Life Is Short, News & Stuff, Pep Talks, The Craft, The Italian Incident, The Life Creative by David96 Comments

There is a scene in the 2023 Netflix series Kaleidoscope in which the lead character, played by the inimitable Giancarlo Esposito, says to his young daughter, “Show me where you’re brave.” She responds by putting her finger to her head. “Now show me where you’re strong,” he says, and in response, she puts her finger on her heart. I am feeling neither brave …

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What Gets Overlooked (Don’t Let it be This)

In Life Is Short, Pep Talks, The Craft, The Life Creative by David38 Comments

Your biggest challenges, the ones that stand in the way of your best photographs, are not technical; they are creative. I’d put money on that being true for almost everyone who reads this. Once you’ve learned the fundamentals, the challenges you have won’t be solved with your tools so much as by your thinking. When you look at the work you’re …