Responses to Law of Diminishing Returns…
I got a lot of e-mail responses on my last entry on the “Law of Diminishing Returns”. I am really grateful for such an engaged blog reader community. And, of course, I am also grateful for any suggestions and comments.
First of all, the reference to economic theory was meant a bit tongue and cheek… however, it raises interesting questions. How do you draw a project to an end? When do you know that you’ve reached the end? In particular, when do you know that you should draw a project to a close that has no ‘natural’ ending, no linear, sequential storyline? It is fairly easy with a project that has a beginning, middle and ending and tells a clear, linear story. But what if you are attempting to document a living biotope that is ever changing and will do so for a long time, if not forever?
I guess one trap you can fall into is that you go on forever and keep shooting and shooting… A fallacy that even accomplished photographers such as legend W. Eugene Smith succumbed to in his project on Pittsburgh where he shot thousands and thousands of images on the town but got somehow lost in his edit…
But, of course, another trap you can fall into if you wrap up too early is that you miss the two or three shots that will make your project truly amazing.
Maybe one indicator to draw to a close is when you start to repeat yourself. I took these two shots yesterday afternoon at Maidan…
In my view, these images are not even bad, maybe even decent shots, but I guess I have already similar shots in my portfolio on this project… So are these shots really necessary, do I have to hang out for more? Or invest my time in a careful and thoughtful edit instead? How did for example Bruce Davidson decide in his long-term projects on the New York subway or in his seminal project on East 100th Street that he had enough strong material to publish a book?
Incidentally and luckily, for me there is a hard deadline at the end of November when I have to hand in my completed (edited, printed,…) project at the London College of Communication for assessment for my master degree. Not that far away if you think about it…
In any case, I look forward to returning to my favourite group this evening (Saturday night) at Teatralna… see what this lovely and cheerful group will be up to tonight.
First of all, the reference to economic theory was meant a bit tongue and cheek… however, it raises interesting questions. How do you draw a project to an end? When do you know that you’ve reached the end? In particular, when do you know that you should draw a project to a close that has no ‘natural’ ending, no linear, sequential storyline? It is fairly easy with a project that has a beginning, middle and ending and tells a clear, linear story. But what if you are attempting to document a living biotope that is ever changing and will do so for a long time, if not forever?
I guess one trap you can fall into is that you go on forever and keep shooting and shooting… A fallacy that even accomplished photographers such as legend W. Eugene Smith succumbed to in his project on Pittsburgh where he shot thousands and thousands of images on the town but got somehow lost in his edit…
But, of course, another trap you can fall into if you wrap up too early is that you miss the two or three shots that will make your project truly amazing.
Maybe one indicator to draw to a close is when you start to repeat yourself. I took these two shots yesterday afternoon at Maidan…
In my view, these images are not even bad, maybe even decent shots, but I guess I have already similar shots in my portfolio on this project… So are these shots really necessary, do I have to hang out for more? Or invest my time in a careful and thoughtful edit instead? How did for example Bruce Davidson decide in his long-term projects on the New York subway or in his seminal project on East 100th Street that he had enough strong material to publish a book?
Incidentally and luckily, for me there is a hard deadline at the end of November when I have to hand in my completed (edited, printed,…) project at the London College of Communication for assessment for my master degree. Not that far away if you think about it…
In any case, I look forward to returning to my favourite group this evening (Saturday night) at Teatralna… see what this lovely and cheerful group will be up to tonight.
posted by rupert beagle at 9:13 am
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