Photography by its very nature is always looking in the past. We are constantly reflecting and hopefully capturing those moments with all their essence, but how are we moving photography forward?
As much as I love to look at images from great photographers of the past - and I’m no Stanger to dipping into the Magnum archives for inspection. All the past images hold a certain golden age about them and encapsulate that time period. Those days have gone and we live in the today which at times can feel worlds apart from some of those beautiful black and white images of simpler times.
So I come back to my question, how do we move it forward? - well I think we have to look to the future and live in the moments of today. Yes, it is completely different from the past and what we make pictures of is a complete contrast but that’s ok. (I will reference the fact that I’m talking more along the line of documentary photography here)
There’s no right or wrong way of doing any of this but I think what is important is to push the work forward that we make. This is also advice to myself, I know it’s so easy to repeat what has worked in the past but what is greater is to pass the work forward and keep what we are making relevant. We need to produce the work that gives a voice to the times of today but that can be done in any way that makes sense to you.
I try to make images that make sense to my eyes and that are important to me. The more of the work that I produce, the more the process of discovery unfolds and I become comfortable with walking a new line. To move it all forward, I believe it’s important to take risks and constantly try new things. Yes, there is a fair bit of failure doing this but through following that process, I stumble upon new things that I might not have even thought of doing.
A couple of years i produce something that was completely different and that was a series called ‘Sea Lights’. I was producing images through winter, a time that I struggle to make new work due to the lack of light and activity at the coast. I started playing about with some ideas that I have tried a number of times before. but with limited success and lack of consistency. I pushed myself to try something new and outside of the work I normally produce. Yes, it was a little scary to share that work but it was important for me to do that and walk that line of unknowing. I look back on that now and I’m pleased that I did push through and carry on with the project.
This process of doing something new and pushing the work forward is what is important to keep things fresh and also engaging my creativity. Without this, I would soon dull my senses and no one wants that! This is a reminder to myself to also take that less walked path and dare to go against the grain.
