This week's edition is somewhat of a philosophical musing. I’ve now had several friends notice my photography and ask what my plan is or what I’m trying to accomplish. This question and some related ones have been occupying my mind for a while. Here, I’ll try to answer that in a broader context, which I believe can be a useful worldview and applied practically to most endeavors.
My goal is to adjust the trajectory of the modern age and effectively change the world. I’ll just leave that grenade right here for now and tie it back in towards the end. First, let me explain how I got on my current path, centered on photography and backpacking.
Years ago I was given the book Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement (link is for your convenience. Not an affiliate link) by Kevin Gilmartin, Ph.D. In it there is a section about ‘the “I usta” syndrome.’ Basically, it asks how many hobbies, interests, pursuits, etc., that once defined who we are as individuals fade into the past because life gets in the way? They become the things “I usta” do.
Since reading about it, this has haunted me. I recognized that backpacking and spending time in the wild was one of those things I could describe as something I did when I was younger. Over the years I made a deliberate effort to camp and introduce my children to the outdoors. Still, these were occasional events and almost purely mini vacations.
Photography helped me change this. Initially, the goal was to sell photos on line to make a little extra cash. The (total) lack of success with that caused me to shift focus towards developing my photography skills in order to offer better photos. Once my photographs began to improve, I began thinking about pushing my limits in the outdoors to be able to share images of scenes most people don’t have the opportunity to witness. Now, photography has become the underlying mission of my trips to the wilderness. The chance at creating inspiring images is the purpose behind the risk, the effort, and the enduring of the discomfort of the elements.
Let me call your attention to two opposite types of travelers. I’m describing a line of thinking by Nassim Taleb, author of Antifragile (also not an affiliate link). Taleb is a profound thinker and his books, which I have read and re-read, have had a deep impact on the way I view the world. He contrasts a tourist with a flaneur. A tourist follows a scripted itinerary designed to catch some highlights while eliminating any risk from a trip. Everything is streamlined, so that the next tourist will have almost the same experience, or the experience will be the same on the next go around. However, the rigidity of the plan can become a problem, as when the consummate experience on the Caribbean island has to be cut short because the cruise ship is leaving. A flaneur, on the other hand, is a wanderer without an agenda. This approach grants the flexibility to adjust course according to changing conditions and, hopefully, the ability to maximize the good stuff while minimizing the bad. The important takeaway is to have to ability to adapt what you are doing based on the results you get and your interest in doing it.
You must take the first step. Things seem difficult in concept, when viewed from a place of inertia. The 20 mile hike or the mountain peak in the distance seem unattainable. Just start moving and enjoy the sunlight along the way. Even after 1 step, you are already closer.
Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily. - Epictetus
This is the same for me becoming a photographer as for anything you want to start doing. What you make or what you do will be awful at first, but you must have the courage to show it to the world anyway. Feedback helps you make corrections. You learn how to be better. Success and failure guide your direction, of where you should go and where you want to go. You discover this only while you’re already on the path.
Its too easy to stay home, making plans for what you would do once you have the right equipment, conditions, time, etc. Do what you can with what you have. I’ve gotten encouraging feedback on photos that I have taken with a $30 tripod and an entry level DSLR that I push like a workhorse, while sleeping in a bivy tent I got as a teenager.
Tinkering is a good thing. It involves making small decisions or actions. Most of these won’t generate the results you’re looking for. They will be failures. The failures will teach you and the important part is to keep them small, so that they do not harm you. With enough of these, you will find the effort that brings success, and that success may be disproportionate to the stumbles along the way.
My answer to the question in the beginning is that I have no grand plan for my photography. Its an evolution that includes these thoughts that you are reading now. I’m adapting and changing course when necessary. Its as simple as this- I get a deep sense of fulfillment by adventuring in the wilderness and I want to do it more. Photography is the objective that lets me do that. Therefore, I seek to master these skills to a level that, hopefully, one day will provide me with better equipment and access to more exotic locations. Because, and here is the key, I want to share images that impart a jolting awe and reverence for Nature and that elevate people’s valuation of the wild to the point that we all prioritize preserving what is left of these pristine areas and thus, change the world.
Condensed and put more broadly, my suggestions are these-
Find what you enjoy doing and do not let it go. Prioritize it by giving it value to yourself and others.
Just start doing it, and don’t be afraid to show it off. It will get better and eventually your efforts will get noticed.
Stay nimble. Take small chances, watch the results, and be prepared to change course depending on what works and what doesn’t.
Above all, enjoy the path because it IS the goal.
You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. - Marcus Aurelius
Life is too short to be normal. Manifest your eccentric side and have fun!
I hope this has been useful or interesting. Send me a comment below, I’d love to hear about what interests you all are pursuing.