Working in Projects
For much of my photographic “career” to date I have focussed solely on creating single images of subjects that take my interest. I have taken the photograph, processed and printed it, and added it to my website under one of a few general headings. That has given me an enormous amount of satisfaction, in particular the printing of specific images which ultimately are either framed and hung on a wall or are collated into a box with other images of that genre. However, more recently I have developed an ambition to produce a body of work that might be suited to the creation of a book. I am sure this is an ambition of a lot of photographers, but I expect I am in the majority who believe their work is not good enough or that they just don’t know where to start.
A very close friend of mine was following the same path as me in producing single stand-alone images but took the decision to start working in projects, a decision that has resulted in him recently self-publishing a small book of photographs focussed on a particular subject matter that can be found in many locations close to his home in Germany. He is now progressing a number of other projects which have brought much more focus to his work. The publication of his book got me thinking whether it was in my interest to start working in projects, not necessarily in pursuit of the creation of a book, but more to give me the opportunity and motivation to create collections of images that showcase areas of my work.
It is early days and I have tentatively started two projects, with a third possibility in the back of my mind. I remain undecided what I will do with the work in the longer term, however what I can say for certain is that starting to work in projects has helped me with my motivation. Whilst not every trip out with the camera is solely focussed on the specific subject matter of each project, when I do decide to venture out with them in mind it brings with it a sense of anticipation and excitement that I might find a suitable subject to add to the collection. In addition It has also proved to be a source of inspiration for exploring new locations, helping me lift myself out of the routine of always visiting one of a small number of places time after time, an approach that had served me well in terms of getting to know locations really well but on the negative side had resulted in a familiarity which had started to limit my ability to really look closely for new subjects in those areas.
Going forward I intend to continue to always have one or two projects on the go, projects that can be progressed in the background over months and years whilst continuing to take the opportunity to be spontaneous when it suits me. The creation of single stand-alone images will always interest me, and in fact one of those photographs could easily be the first image in a new collection and the start of a new project. Ultimately my ambition is to create a number of collections that illustrate my style of photography and my specific interests in the natural world.
