Musings on creating one’s own work
If we can see the path laid out in front of us, there’s a good change that it’s not our own path.
David Whyte. Poet, author, speaker
In this world of scrolling, likes and pins, it’s so very easy to become coloured by other people’s work. Unintentionally or subconsciously, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you find your own genuine path - whatever it is - be curious, take risks...
As I see it, in order to find our own work, we must look inwards rather than outwards. Looking inwards will set us on a path to our own genuine work - whether it’s our own stories, our feelings and emotions at the time or our love for particular devices - a particular film and chemical combination, a paper accidentally discovered.
Ask yourself questions. Ask better questions…
There are various components, principles if you will that will make up a piece of work. Some food for thought for you, perhaps. Hopefully, Here goes, in no particular order - how is your work distinctive in any of the following areas?
Perhaps this will help you chat to people about your work with confidence, or write better copy for you website or published articles…
Colour - whether it’s a certain colour palette that you become known for or that is different every time you start a new piece of work because of the story or emotion on which it is based. A colour palette can be chosen because of its meaning in Colour Psychology and you want to move the viewer in a certain way. Even in darkroom bllack and white printing you can choose a particular palette
Composition - the design of a piece, the balance, rhythm, the emphasis.
Risk - be curious, experiment. Failure can be pointers, seeing opportunities from our mistakes is all part of our own learning process which leads to the signature of a piece/series. I always tell my students to see failures/mistakes as no entry signs on a journey - there’s always another way to get there.
Space - the area of the paper used or the organisation of elements within that paper. A huge fan, this is a strong tool an the confident us of space will communicate an artist’s intent.
Texture/pattern - this can be from a range of things - anything you like - depth from a substrate, composition, layering, application of new physical layers.
The soul of a piece of work - its feeling, emotional, intellectual energy. The intensity of a piece. After all, a piece of art communicates on whatever level - from the artist to the viewer.
Value - lightness and darkness of a colour or hue - creating emphasis and the illusion of light
The above are my ponderings, thoughts, ideas on this subject. Hard to interpret for all disciplines, but I hope it gives you some food for thought on your own practice.
If you’re interested, the photograph on this page was taken on my Large Format camera with Ilford FP4 film. The image in the blog overview was taken on a medium format camera, again with Ilford FP4 film. I love this film for its very fine grain and outstanding sharpness.