Doug wrote a comment on my previous post on the topic, and maybe I should have jsut answered that one, but there has been so few posts lately, so it became a post instead.
Doug says that projects may provide direction and consistency, and I totally agree., but if direction and consistency brings me joy, I feel it will come naturally. Doing photography as a project, in the strict sense of the term, is helpful to get past rough spots where the motivation fails, but as long as I don’t make a living of this, it just isn’t worth it. For professional photographers (or professional anything), the project mindset, and work disciplin, is both helpful and necessary to push on and get progress. This may also be the case for working artists, trying to make a living of their work. The prize you pay is the chance of being fed up, and if you have a “real” daytime job, it’s a bit sad to get burned out on your hobby.
On the other hand, if I stop every time I meet resistance, it will be unsatisfactory too, so I will force myself past the rough spots, but not because of any “project” mindset. It is because I know I will feel better once I have passed it.
December 17th, 2008 at 01:22
Excellent point, Kjell. Sometimes, it’s hard not to get sucked into the project mindset, where everything that we do has to have some terminus, some finite endpoint. I’m in the same boat with you. I’m not a professional, nor do I think I aspire to be; I just LOVE taking pictures of whatever. I don’t think that this stunts my growth in any way. It does what it is supposed to do. It brings me great joy.