A Meditation on Showing Work

I’ve taken 3 times more photos this month than average. I am almost done with looking through them. Choosing the ones I like, editing them, and then exporting them into a folder. Usually these photos will not see the light of day. They will be stored on a hard drive or in a negative folder and sit. Taking space and constantly growing.

For many photographers, this is normal. We take more photos than we can use or share. The moment in front of us pushes us to take a photo, not knowing where it might go or how it might be used. But alas, we captured the moment, and it is there with us, for better or for worse, forever.

I listened to an interview with Jamel Shabazz yesterday on a drive from Amman to Madaba. Jamel is an American photographer who has garnered respect and reputation, across the US and the world, for his photos of New York City since the 80s. I continue to learn about him.

To be able to afford photographing, he worked as a correctional officer for 20 years, dealing with drug addicts and convicts in the harshest of environments. Only after his retirement did he look back at his photos and start sharing them.

In the age of social media, there seems to be a need to share your work all the time. For a photo that I took at least several seconds to photograph, and then several minutes to edit, will be condensed to a phone screen and glided through for a millisecond, contributing to the crazy techno-industrial machine of taking your attention.

There is a personal dimension to photography, a visual diary of my life. There is also the artistic dimension, an expression of feelings and thoughts captured through the camera. There is also the social dimension, a man must use the tool of their craft responsibly, sharing the truth of our times with others. I feel all these dimensions.

What do I do with the tens of thousands of images I’ve taken, knowing that I am only at the beginning of my time with the camera? What is the best way to share my work in a way that is garners truth and goodness?

This month has been rewarding, full of adventure and emotions. I reflect upon the meaning of life. I offer an analogy from movement and the body.

After exercising, pushing ones limits in their physical body and the skills the body can perform, the body needs to rest. And after that rest, the body needs to stretch again to somehow very naturally find their newly gained perspective, skill, and range. After some intense movement over a week, I rested my body for a day or two and found myself on the mat, releasing and stretching my body. During that session on the mat, I felt myself like a caterpillar who had just become a butterfly, or a baby snake that had just shed their skin. I felt fresh and a person with new strengths and capabilities. I grew.

This month has pushed my limits photographically. While rest may take a different shape with the camera, I feel the growth in my capabilities, and know that the road is still giving, the destination far, but the next step is much closer.

I share some images from this month here.