Working On Possibilities: “You Get an A!”

I'm reading a book I like very much titled (But first, a little aside: Why do people put "entitled" when it's 'titled'? It's not 'entitled' to anything! Okay, back to the book 'titled'): The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander. He's the conductor of the Boston...

Goals and Projects + Deadlines = Work

I know photographers who work without deadlines. Writers and artists, too. None of them make work consistently because nothing is due. It's just a wish: "I'd really like to create a great _____. I want to be the best ever at _____." Do you really? You know how the successful ones, those who are recognized...

My Favorite Photograph to Make…

There's an old line in photography that, "My favorite photograph to make is the next one." But it's so true. I sometimes think life would be easier if I were into watching TV and sports, but I'm not. I have an insatiable need to create. I do that with photographs and writing. I also write...

Why Do People Wait, Stop Themselves?

I'm sitting at my favorite pub in my town, Bootstrap Brewing, where you can often find me on Monday nights, writing and listening to the tunes from the open mic stage. It's a good scene, the musicians talented, and the beer's good, too. I think the Paris salon days must have been like this, writers...

We’re Only Living Today, So Today Is The Time To Make It

I was thinking about art and artists and I've come to the conclusion that we are only our output. Whether we "make it" in some definition of success is out of our control, we have no ability to take our work anywhere, we only have the ability to make the work. And make more work....

How Has Instant Results Affected Creativity?

We all wear two hats, one as a creative and one as a marketer. In days of old, we would create a body of work, photographers would be able to work on a project and keep the creative hat on until completion. They wouldn't be stepping back and forth between worlds because they couldn't get...

Finding The Joy, The Creativity That Stops Time

I had a photo shoot this week for Yellow Scene Magazine, a local Boulder news and feature magazine, and was sent to an artist collective that opened to support empowerment and creativity, and to photograph its two owners, Jessica and Jessie. It was very creative. When I began, I immediately had an idea for a...

“But People Are So Busy…”

I don't believe that. What are we so busy doing? People say that everyone is in such a hurry today, they have kids that have to get dropped off to after-school activities or sports. But wait, they've always done that. Are kids now on six or eight teams instead of the one or two they...

I Don’t Need Anything, But This Leica and This Notebook

Being both a photographer (documentary/street) and a writer (stand-up comedy/screenplays), I came to the realization that there is a correlation between the two. Because both require something of me. See, I carry a Leica and notebook everywhere I go. When my parents took photographs when I was growing up, they took them out at Christmas,...

Welcoming the Muse in the Sandbox

I was reading quotes from famous artists, and one of them said something to the effect: "When I go to the canvas with a preconceived idea, those are usually not as good as the ones where I go with no idea what I will paint, and just paint." Effectively, going to the sandbox to play. ...