I’ve been tinkering with my website, perhaps you’ve noticed. The biggest change is the new edits, produced in collaboration with Mike Davis. Mike, who has been editing photography, as well as making his own images for over twenty years at places like National Geographic and The White House (yes that White House), brought his talent and critical eye / mind to bear on some 700 images I sent him.
One of the most difficult jobs a photographer faces is editing their own work. I’ve always felt I was reasonably good at it or at least I knew what I liked. Lately I’ve struggled selecting a body of work that showcases the full range of my work without being scattered, disjointed or diluted. Mike however, waded through a mountain of images and put together the tightest edit I’ve shown in years, featuring images as new as six months and as old as 30 years. There are two featured collections of images, the first showcasing photographs of people / portraits and a second grouping of landscape / places.
I can’t sing Mike’s praises enough, he truly got what I’m all about. Have a look and let me know what you think.
I don’t know what to think about this.
My initial thought was “we don’t need no stinkin’ editors.” Part of who we are as artists is the work we choose to show at any given point in time. “Scattered, disjointed or diluted” is subjective. Is it your job to spoon-feed your work to the masses; or is the responsibility of the masses to understand your vision?
On the other hand, I have to admit your portfolio looks better. Honestly, I wish I could say it doesn’t look any different. But it looks better.
I guess my question is now what? Do you call Mike Davis every time you have an image you like and seek his permission to include it on your site? Do you call him every couple of years to clean up your portfolio? Do you consult with him every couple of months to do a light cleaning? You can see I have this image of a portfolio maid service running through my head right now.
I know I have a serious problem of falling in love with the last image I’ve shot. I would concur with your statement “I know what I like.” But I also realize I like things for different reasons. Hence I think I am very prone to being disjointed and scattered.
Creativity is a meandering path. Can you really be innovative if you are worried about whether something will fit in your portfolio? There is something (at least for me) about uploading an image into my portfolio that completes the process. But there is stuff in my portfolio that probably shouldn’t be there. I just happen to like it (or have yet to come to my senses and delete it).
I don’t know the answer. Thanks for sharing. It’s certainly something else to think (worry) about. And your portfolio does look better as a result of the exercise.
Tom
4 Apr 10 at 12:09 pm