Change is one of those inevitable forces that is difficult to fight against. Rough currents are not escaped by swimming against them, but by utilizing the speed and motion we can end up in places we hadn’t known exist.
Like water, our lives grow stale when there is no current. Certainly change can be a terrifying thing, but scared or not we all dive in head first every second of every day. There is not a moment that does not consist of change. The same is most certainly true of photography.
As days turn in to years, technology and demands become menacing and foreign. As large as these changes seem, they are but undertakings for those of us who wish to conquer them. Each day is a new opportunity to learn something that will help us in our conquest of photography.
Today I had the great pleasure of speaking with Michael Stern, who runs buildabetterphotograph.com. Michael had lots to say about the things that I have been up to in the past month or so, some of which actually stuck, other parts needed more salt to go down. Seeing as he has been in this business for 30 years I always value the mans opinion. That, and I’ve been in New York for the past 3 years so it was good to see him again.
It has been this returning from New York that has put a governor on my search for gainful opportunities here in Los Angeles. In NY I was hammered with the idea that I should begin down the path that will lead me to the destination I want as soon as I can. It would seem that that is not as simple as perhaps my older counterparts would like me to imagine. There has been lots of change.
So much in fact, that in order to continue freelance work, we must not limit ourselves from learning what we can, nor should we downplay the talents that we have gathered. I would love to work on documentary photography alone, but that is not realistic. What has changed, is the need to use all the industry relevant skills we can to keep ourselves in the game. We must adapt, adapt or die.
In the very true words of Bruce Lee – Be like water.
