Dear Friend - Future Photographer - Current Artist - Knower of Truth -
Seer,
I say don't take that photography class.
Take pictures instead.
Hundreds and hundreds.
We don't need film any more so there's no cost.
Get a cheap little $20 camera.
Anything.
I took these with a free camera that came in the mail.
Take lots and lots of bad, horrible, messy, out of focus, out of
light, out of context pictures.
Then throw them all away, except maybe 1 or 2.
Then throw those away.
Then take more bad pictures then throw them all away.
Look at them all.
In your hind brain, innocently notice the ones your eye rests on just
a little longer than the others.
Those ones might actually be photographs.
They resonate with some structure inside.
The structure of beauty.
The structure of Fran.
You feel good when you look at them so you look at them longer.
Its all about how you feel.
Don't analyze.
Just look.
Don't look.
Just see.
Don't see.
Just feel.
Feel how you feel when you see.
See with your heart.
Listen.
Don't plan.
Don't compose.
Just click, click, click!
Wax on.
Wax off.
Bypass thinking.
Stop thinking.
Chuck your cortex.
Waste of space.
Use the female brain.
Love not Logic.
Make it your whole brain.
Love no Logic.
Chuck your brain.
Click with your heart.
Do this over and over.
Do it without a camera.
Click with your eye.
Blnk, Blink, Blink.
Way cheaper.
Its a state of mind.
Its loving with your eye.
Its seeing with your heart.
You can take hundreds of pictures just inside your house.
Inside a closet.
Anywhere.
Your foot.
The ceiling.
Air.
Fingers.
Hair!
You don't need to plan a trip.
No tripods.
No excuses.
Nobody's going to see them anyway.
Training your eye to know what it already knows.
Getting out of your own way.
Feeling when to click without thinking.
Click now.
Think later.
Click Click Click.
Soon the pictures will come to you.
Already composed.
They're waiting for you.
They're orbiting.
Waiting to land.
Clear the runway.
Maybe someday the world will see what you see.
Maybe someday the world will feel what you feel.
Who cares.
Point is.
See what you already see.
Feel what you already feel.
Its all Yourself.
Classes are for Creeps.
Books are for Bozos.
This is the Native Way.
See you.
Dave.
PS. This was written by my husband who is a rather amazing photographer. I hope you enjoy it.
This brought chills to my entire body and tears to my eyes. Beautiful. My 14 year old daughter is a budding photographer, she has talent. We were going to take a class together, now we're just going to take pictures together!!
It sound just like me I take a lot of photos and throw away the rejects. I have a very complicated camera and I think I need to go to one that is more automatic.