Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School 18–21
This Week’s LIDLIPS
18. Make tons of mistakes and fail frequently.
19. Don’t worry about “having a defined look”.
20. Understand that owning a photograph is different than owning the right to reproduce it.
21. MTV has changed the way we look at and digest images.
Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School 18–21
18. Make tons of mistakes and fail frequently.
If you don’t make a lot of photographs that you didn’t intend, then you’re not working hard enough or, maybe, you’re working too hard. Either way, one of the gateways to being truly successful is not being afraid of failure. A friend laughed at me long ago and said “Syl, you won’t make that mistake again. You’ll make a new and bigger mistake.” I’ve been practicing this mantra for years. Much of my creative growth has emerged from the ashes of my efforts. Study your “mistakes” and use them to expand your vision and understanding of photography life.
19. Don’t worry about “having a defined look”.
My only consistent look is that I have a head of crazy, red hair that does just about whatever it wants each day. As for my photography, I’ve gone on record as saying “if I were a tool instead of a photographer, I’d be a Swiss Army knife.” Art directors in New York, Los Angeles and the other major media markets, want to hire commercial shooters who have a very defined style. I think it’s because they need to eliminate the possibility of making a mistake. They want to know that when they hire a certain photographer, they’ll get the certain look that they’ve already sold to their client. A high-dollar shoot is definitely not the place to re-invent yourself. Of course, the vast majority of us don’t live in or shoot for people in NY or LA. For us, the danger of having a defined look is that it will become that comfy place that deteriorates into a creative rut. Actually that’s a huge danger for NY and LA shooters too. If your look is defined, start unraveling it before your look morphs into a rut.
20. Understand that owning a photograph is different than owning the right to reproduce it.
At the moment of creation, a photograph is intellectual property and the ownership of the copyright for that photograph belongs with the photographer*. Unlike real property (your home for instance) and personal property (the items in your home), you cannot touch intellectual property. Intellectual property is also different than real and personal property in that it can be reproduced easily (many exact copies can be made). A photographic print is a physical object and a type of personal property. However, owning a photographic print does not necessarily give the owner the right to reproduce the photograph. This right of reproduction remains with the copyright owner — a right than can be licensed many times. As a commercial photographer, I do not sell my photographs. Rather I license specific rights of reproduction to clients. As a fine art photographer, I sell my photographs (as prints). The difference between the photograph and the photograph is something that you’ll explain to clients for the rest of your life. [*Work For Hire is the exception to the rule about the photographer owning the copyright at the moment of creation. Read the basics of WFH if you don't know what this means.]
21. MTV has changed the way we look at and digest images.
The generation of kids weaned on MTV are now in their 20s and 30s. They are the creatives and decision-makers who shape much of our modern media. When they were babies, slide shows were contemplative and slow-paced. Today, images are swapped out in a fraction of a second. Don’t believe this? Watch a commercial on TV and count it out. Or go to the website of a young wedding photographer and watch the intro gallery. Two seconds has become an eternity. Several thoughts come to mind. First, the number of images offered up for our consumption has gone way up (I think digital cameras are only the facilitator and not the cause). Second, the machine-gunning of images has blurred the boundaries between images. What we think about one image is greatly influenced by the images that are presented just before and after it. Lastly, images that would not stand on their own in a static presentation (think “magazine ad” or “gallery wall”) are often applauded when wrapped up in a cascade of images. If we can only look at something for a split-second, do we really see what’s there?
Previous Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School
LIDLIPS 1–12
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It’s a great series, but I’d also be interested in
Lessons I learned in photo school that I actually remember or use
We all know that 99% of what we learn in any school is forgotten a year (if not a day) later. But which pieces actually stuck would be interesting to those of us who never did, nor probably ever will, attend a photo school.
First time on this blog. Just finished reading LIDLIPS 1-21. Thanks for the bits of knowledge, very helpful for someone young like myself.
#21 really got me thinking. I am 23 years old. When I am looking at photos, I am generally more interested in designs and series. I love strong single images, but a good design and group of photos that flow well together will always land higher in my book.
[...] LIDLIPS 18–21 [...]