Moving to a new country can be stressful. I have done it many times. It can be very rewarding if one stays open to a new culture and society. There’s even a theory that people who have lived abroad are more creative.
Creativity has always buffled me. What is that moment at which an original idea appears in our minds? What does it actually mean, to be creative? I believe that by now turning into this artistic pursuit in writing and photography I’m also researching this human trait.
So far my experience tell me that I’m most creative when my mind is calm and consciousness attentive. By allowing myself to question the reality, I allow new perceptions. I believe that there’s probably nothing more detrimental to my creativity than hanging on to any beliefs with too much attachment.
I am currently wondering how exactly should I treat this Australian “winter”. I just came back from a 40 minute swim in the ocean next to Sydney’s northern beaches, first one since I defended myself against the jetlag. Now doors to our house are open and we are letting a fresh breeze in, mixed with quite happy sunrays. All would be idyllic like this, except the past two days it was basically a wall of rain in front of the porch.
Together with my fiancee and after many months of deliberation we have decided to move to Australia. It’s not entirely new to us. I’ve lived here during my teenage years, and Amy, well, she is Australian.
Today is my last day in a corporation. I gave my notice after a long and diligent consideration. Firstly because I know now that working as a part of a large organization is somewhat limiting to my creativity and need for independence. I was lucky that I started working for a start-up and that was very fulfilling and entrepreneurial, however after years this garage company became beaurocratic and opposite of lean…
Another reason is the fact that I am not interested in a typical business career. Paradoxically I had to obtain an MBA from a leading international business school to fully realize this. It was definitely part of a journey, and now I am in a great position to use what I know of business and corporate world to do what I feel will give me and others more joy.
I am therefore turning to more creative endeavours such as photography, but mainly as means to an end. A famous photographer once said, that there are essentialy 2 types of photographers: creators and hunters. I am definitely a hunter, so we will still have to wait to see what will emerge from my work.
This animation by Taijin Takeuchi, was created with 1300 photographs over a period of 12 months. It was inspired by David Hockney’s photo collages. Taijin created Wolf and Pig over twelve months when he was studying animation at Musashino Art University.
It was very refreshing to read Billy Jay’s essay on the rubbish that somewhat prevails in many texts about photography. Call me simple but even though I love some of the work that is shown in the modern art magazines on photography, the critical essays that accompany them remind me of something from my corporate experience.
After years of working in marketing, I came across many managerial buzz words and corporatespeak examples. The ability to cut through this crap is essential skill for any entrepreneur. I must say that it seems that this tendency exists outside the business world, and can be found in a much more refined way in the art world. I don’t actually want to give any examples, because I don’t have time to reproduce what is unimportant.
However, what is important here, is perhaps something that another Bill Jay’s essay points out to: and that is the subject of your pictures. I am currently researching new themes for my work, but looking at my past pictures it’s clear, that the greatest achievements that I had where on those subjects I deeply cared about.
And I think that would sum up what photography seems to be for me: a visual documentation of what I care most about. No buzz words. Simple life. To take great pictures, one must live mindfully.
A week ago I have received a little green book, called “Letters to a Young Artist”. It includes 23 letters written in response to a letter from a fictitious young artist struggling with the moral and practical implications of being an artist. I found it very inspirational. Here’s a list of some quotes that I distilled from all the letters:
If you want to be a person who can survive on your art, you must clarify what can be exchanged with society before society will repay you.
Xu Bing
Keep your studio clear from concerns of the marketplace. You might have to dance with the wolves but you can still keep them near the door.
Gregory Amenhoff
Stay in touch with your original motivation to become an artist - and be aware that it is always a process of becoming.
Elizabeth Murray
Always choose subjects that matter to you.
Kerry James Marshall
[...] art is made to explore the world and the culture, to explore the chosen medium, to explore one’s self [...] it is made to answer or try to answer questions. It is made for fun. In short, it is made in response to personal needs and demands.
Stephen Shore
Don’t go into art for fame or fortune. Do it because you cannot not do it. Being an artist is a combination of talent and obsession.
John Baldessari
Recognition, when it comes, sometimes can seem like a misunderstanding. The real life of the artist is solitary.
Thomas Nozkowski
Imagine if we were writers [...] How can I write in ways that contribute?
Jimmie Durham
Be aware of the system. Don’t be afraid to stand up and criticize it. Be inventive. Do some creative complaining! Calculate, embarrass, humiliate, when necessary.
Guerrila Girls
High art defines what we see. We see culturally. Seeing is a variable determined by that with which we are assaulted. A new vision and a new art should be the aspiration of high art.
Alex Katz
Commerce has always been part of human relations and public life. It is one system of communication among many.
Jessica Stockholder
Enjoy yoUR hateful dAy job. It is probAbly giving you ^much^ moRe thAn youR dReAmed of gAllery will eveR pRovide.
William Pope.L
Be upset if you are not happy with your work. Never be upset about how many people have seen it, or how many reviews it received.
Yoko Ono
The booklet is available from Art on Paper publications.
Couple of days ago, at workshops organized by photographer Minna Pyyhkala while deciding on a theme that we will pursue, we have touched a topic that was always very interesting to me, which could be named generally as “spirituality”. I was always drawn to question the reality that we perceive with our senses, believing that there is more than meets the eye. The ultimate question of the reason of our existence sprung, as it does, on this occasion. I have decided to start a research on the topic of the “reality” and “spirtuality” in photography.
The research seems interesting, because it encompasses a topic much broader than the reality as experienced by us, that which can be skillfully presented through the means of documentary photography. However that is not the theme here. We are talking about the ultimate universe and the meaning of what we call life, however at the back of my head I know that photography will not answer any of these questions, but as an art from, can point into some directions and offer different points of view. No pun inteded.
Let’s start with death, already tackled by Minna Pyyhkala in her series HI DIE. I always strongly identified death as a part of life, and am somewhat disappointed in our culture’s incapacity to embrace death as something natural. I do recommend reading the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying which shows us how deep and an amazing part of life we are simply ignoring through fear. Minna’s pictures are an invitation to this discourse.
Another, amazing work by German photographer Walter Schels and his partner Beate Lakotta, who recorded interviews with the subjects in their final days, reveals much about dying - and living, link here.
I stumbled upon a book on a Swiss photographer Iren Stehli the other day and was immediately drawn into her pictures of late 70’s Prague. Stehli has masterfuly captured the richness and depth of a society living under a communistic regime.
Untitled, from the series "A House in Zerotin Street",1976-79, Iren Stehli.
Her way of seeing is very unassuming. She is curious and has enormous respect for the people she photographs. I am impressed at how she approached her subjects and how delicately she goes into their reality, almost peeling it like an onion.
Untitled, from the series "A House in Zerotin Street",1976-79, Iren Stehli.
Her pictures are poetic and raw and the subject matter is relationships. That between herself and the subjects but also the environment and on a larger scale - the reality of life under a communistic regime, through a point of view of ordinary people. This book shows that even under the most difficult circumstances we can remain human.
Because I love photography. Unlike literature, with fictitious characters and plots, or painting, with freedom of colour and form, you can’t photograph something that you can’t see. At the same time photography is not objective. It is just as deceptive as the reality that we observe through our senses. And it dissects this “reality” like our mind does.
Photography is a zen koan that helps to gain insight. It’s an art form representative of our civilization. Photography can be a dialogue that hopefully leads to understanding of who we are.
I believe that good photography is created when we are engaged in life around us. Photography always helped me to reach out to people, and I hope that this blog will do the same.
