Doing a "Master Reset" on my photography [Archive]

Daniel Stone

21-Jul-2013, 16:05

I've come to realize that I'm spinning my wheels for the most part. I love shooting film, I love large format. I love digital and its capabilities. Heck I kinda have a "love affair" with it all. The gear(not as much as before, I now just see them as tools), but photography in general, TO ME, is somewhat dead now.... I still get out to expose a roll or two of 120 a week, sometimes not even that much... I've found that picking up a camera(even my little Nikon digital slr) simply isn't ENJOYABLE anymore...

Having just moved into my first(on my own) place, I've got the drum scanner up and running, and it's been liberating to be able to go through and scan old shots I've made, but at the same time I've found my self staring at the screen saying "WHY am I here? WHAT am I wasting my time on this for? I'm never going to print this, much less show it to anyone, WHAT (IS) THE POINT???"

That's the part I'm sick of. Being sick of looking at the past, old negatives/chromes, whatever...

I've decided to put 90% of it all to a viking-style funeral, burn em all! Well, I'm saving the family/friends shots, some other chosen frames, and my Iceland negatives, but the rest will be crispy this week.
I've always found that performing IRREVERSIBLE actions in times like these is the best way to put my energy into what AHEAD of me, rather than the past.

Don't get hopeful thinking that I'm going to liquidate all of my gear and film stash, NOOOO ;). I'm just forcing myself to focus on the future, rather than being burdened by the past.

Sorry if this seems like a weird post, but this is a community that I've come to enjoy the company of the past few years, and I'll stick around. But certainly not as much as before. Time to make NEW and BETTER photographs. Onward and upward!

all the best,
Dan

BrianShaw

21-Jul-2013, 16:16

Bill Burk

21-Jul-2013, 17:06

Stop. Think. Don't do it. Burn something that improves with fire, like a Tri-Tip Roast.

Photography is something you can be good as you will ever be in your 20's. That might be your life's best work you are torching. It may be cathartic, but is it really in your best interest?

Just the other day a friend posted a photo on Facebook of a waterfall I can't get to as easily now... that I took "test" photos of when I got my first LF camera... I'm pleased with myself that I recognized the place name and knew I'd already shot it. And I didn't burn the negative, it's right here on my desk.

Never know what will tug your sappy sentimental heartstrings one day. It might be that old stuff. Or you might realize that you knew what you were doing all along.

Leigh

21-Jul-2013, 17:09

Hi Dan,

Passages...

We all hit points in our lives when we either stop at the tunnel entrance, or go through the tunnel, leaving baggage behind.

Hope the other end is more exciting. :D

- Leigh

Otto Seaman

21-Jul-2013, 17:15

Burn Baby Burn. I agree, that's the kind of harsh editing that makes the survivors stronger. Just don't start another forest fire like I did....

ROL

21-Jul-2013, 17:49

Dan, the first step is recognizing the problem. Congratulations.

Making a real, if impossibly unobjective, assessment of your abilities and talents is crucial in any endeavor. You must come to terms with the fact that you are the ultimate custodian of your own work. If the work is really good enough, whatever that means to you, or important enough, you must protect it. OTOH, destroying one's creations has a proud tradition amongst artists. If you have any doubt of that, I suggest a trip to Burning Man, where artists destroy a year or more's worth of work and resources in one all consuming conflagration. Nothing but memories (and pictures :rolleyes:) remain. That has centered me on more than one occasion. I am in no way recommending your present course of action, but ardently support your process. You have one great advantage that many (most?) here do not. You're still young enough to travel the forks of many roads.

Daniel Stone

21-Jul-2013, 17:58

With this much drama, perhaps you should consider a reality TV program.

But seriously... whatever you end up doing with your life, best of luck to you!

Thanks Brian. I'm not looking to create drama, actually the exact opposite. Be able to quickly access the things in my past that I WANT to keep and hold onto(like family and friends shots), but the other stuff for the most part, is pretty much meaningless to me at this point.

Less drama, makes for a simpler and more enjoyable world IMO ;)

Stop. Think. Don't do it. Burn something that improves with fire, like a Tri-Tip Roast.

Photography is something you can be good as you will ever be in your 20's. That might be your life's best work you are torching. It may be cathartic, but is it really in your best interest?

Just the other day a friend posted a photo on Facebook of a waterfall I can't get to as easily now... that I took "test" photos of when I got my first LF camera... I'm pleased with myself that I recognized the place name and knew I'd already shot it. And I didn't burn the negative, it's right here on my desk.

Never know what will tug your sappy sentimental heartstrings one day. It might be that old stuff. Or you might realize that you knew what you were doing all along.

I know what I've been doing ;), but the thing is: I DON'T WANT TO BE DOING THAT ANYMORE, nor do I want any connection to it, physical or emotional. Hence the sharp cutoff from it.

Hi Dan,

Passages...

We all hit points in our lives when we either stop at the tunnel entrance, or go through the tunnel, leaving baggage behind.

Hope the other end is more exciting. :D

- Leigh

This tunnel should be pretty short, I'm ready to exit to the other side.

Burn Baby Burn. I agree, that's the kind of harsh editing that makes the survivors stronger. Just don't start another forest fire like I did....

This will be done via shredder(and then the trash), or just go balls out and light it all on fire. But I think I'll actually go with the shredder option, since that's a bit more environmentally friendly. LA's already smoggy enough :D

Jody_S

21-Jul-2013, 18:25

I have burned negatives exactly once in my life, when I was perhaps 17, and I very much regret doing it. The few rolls that I burned were the most original photos I have taken, ever.

Of course there are binders of negatives I could burn now, because they're crap and I know enough now to know that they're crap.

Leigh

21-Jul-2013, 18:33

... there are binders of negatives I could burn now, because they're crap and I know enough now to know that they're crap.
If we all burned our crappy negatives simultaneously, the Earth would be shrouded in smoke for decades, causing a new ice age. :D

- Leigh

Peter De Smidt

21-Jul-2013, 18:37

I don't get this at all. Lock them away. Don't look at them. But burning them? That seems like needless and irreversible drama.

Bill Burk

21-Jul-2013, 19:28

I still don't want you to burn/dispose of the work.

I keep all my old negatives, maybe lost a few rolls in my life, but they are no burden to me. They sit quietly. Waiting for the day - or not - when they may be revisited. One day I may not be as agile, and then perhaps will become more introspective and will have time to reprint.

For me, I have no reason to distance myself from the work, I have always been true. (Except technically some work doesn't hold up). But a negative I won't print because it's unsharp, will remain a negative I won't print because it's unsharp. Nothing about it will change.

Dr. Demento and I used to have a tradition of breaking records over the heads of friends who come to visit. We'd pick horrible records we'd never want to hear, like Homer Roadheaver. But. One day realized that these are unique artifacts and one day, somebody somewhere will wish to hear Homer Roadheaver and would appreciate the opportunity. So, not for me, but for that future day, Homer remains in my collection - though I don't know for sure I will ever listen to him.

Now that I brought it up, maybe I will listen. Really the music itself is not bad.

Brian Ellis

21-Jul-2013, 20:36

If you burn them I think you'll regret it some day. I threw out all my 35mm negatives (almost all photographs of my kids when they were little) when I was moving many years ago and didn't want to go to the trouble of packing them up. My theory was that I had the prints of the ones I liked, who needs the negatives of ones I didn't like? What I failed to think of is that thirty years later all those ones I didn't like enough to print back then would be very memorable today. Maybe I'd print some of them, maybe I'd just look at the negatives occasionally. But by throwing them out I lost them forever.

Preston

21-Jul-2013, 20:45

I agree about holding on to them. You can lock them away. You never know when you may want to back and revisit an old neg, not only for the sentimental journey, but as your skills grow you may discover that you can now interpret the neg in a new and different way.

I have actually gone back into my archive of old negs or chromes, and because my skills with scanning, post processing and printing have greatly improved, I was able to bring these old images new life. I find that very satisfying.

We are all products of our past, for good or ill, but examining what we did then can open new doors to our today and tomorrow.

--P

Kodachrome25

21-Jul-2013, 21:29

Sounds like photography might not be your calling and that has got to be hard to come to terms with in spending a lot of time on the Internet which many often do in this craft. I have been shooting for 37 years, 23 full time professionally and I have never been more satisfied, excited and inspired as I am now and have no intention of stopping now. All of my photographs, good or bad, are the visual trophies and scars of my life's narrative, I value them all. Your mileage may vary...

I suggest you take a break instead of embarking on what seems to be a self indulgent tortured artist reset of which there is no reversing.

Vaughn

21-Jul-2013, 21:46

Wait until you are 80, like Brett...

There are many ways to achieve the same end as burning your negs. You might reconsider...

Cletus

21-Jul-2013, 21:49

Based on what you're saying in your OP, I can totally relate and have been there myself a number of times. Please, don't burn anything, or do anything irrevocable. That only leads to unnecessary regrets later and this whole pursuit can be hard enough as it it without that.

I might can't see directly into your head right now, but I'll just bet 90% of folks here (who've been at it for longer than at least a few years) have gone through the whole "What am I doing? What is this all for? I'm just gonna give it all up and throw it away" doldrums. I'm quite confident that if I were to look, I could find my own post, right here, saying the same thing.

Do what you will, but my advice and what's worked for me is this:
1. Put ALL cameras and ALL photography paraphernalia away.
2. Stop visiting ALL photography related sites of any kind, that includes LFF.
3. Lay up the darkroom as though you were leaving the country for a year.

And then find something else to completely immerse yourself in for awhile. It doesn't have to be for a year, or even six months, but at least for a couple months. Tackle a lot of reading you've been meaning to get around to, as long it's NON-Photography reading. Take up a new, temporary hobby, learn electronics and design something cool, learn how to make knives or work with leather. The sky is the limit, but do it.

In a few months - after the first month and after all withdrawals have completely subsided - you'll look at YOUR photography in a whole new light (pardon the pun). You'll see things you never saw before and want to print negatives that didn't seem worth a second look earlier. You'll get excited about new projects and you might even be able to see some of the old subjects with new eyes.

Giving yourself a 'photography enema' when things get bad (I'm guessing it's time when they're bad enough you want to burn everything!) can give you a whole new perspective and you might even find the chops to do great things when you come back. Whatever you do, best of luck Dan and just don't forget that you're not the only one who's gone through what you're going through now....

And please don't burn any negatives! :)

jnantz

21-Jul-2013, 23:26

hi dan

sounds like you're bored ...

not sure what the point is about burning or shredding them.. physically removing them won't really change anything ...
is there really THAT much power they have that you can't just put them somewhere and leave them be ?

sometimes its nice to have a history that is tangible.

imagine if your family records were all lost in a time of distress
(war, genocide, forced expulsion &c ) and years later, your offspring
or the next generation afterwards wanted to know where they came from ...
all there would be left are memories, and written thoughts spoken words of those memories .
and they are always distorted .. never whole truths ...
all you will have left after your pyre are half truths ...

maybe instead of drum scanning everything because you are bored (and want to see drum scanned images)
you could just come up with some sort of project to work on and keep yourself busy ...

good luck !

john

Tin Can

21-Jul-2013, 23:47

You have told us a lot of personal things about your life.

I think you are 24, if you want to triple that age, calm down, pack it all up and go enjoy the world without a camera.

That's what I did at your age and I have never regretted the cameraless years.

Then you turn 30 and think you are old and should be married.

Good luck!

dsphotog

21-Jul-2013, 23:58

They might be worth something after you are dead.

jaybob20

22-Jul-2013, 00:13

You don't need to burn them, they will turn to vinegar and destroy themselves on their own.

Oh and Cletus is definitely on to something. Maybe a non photo class or two at a local Community College.

Kodachrome25

22-Jul-2013, 00:23

They might be worth something after you are dead.

Uh-oh, I don't think he wants to do that either...;-)

Daniel Stone

22-Jul-2013, 03:06

ok, here's the skinny on why I'd NEED to physically destroy them(as opposed to keeping and thusly, needing to STORE them somewhere):

its precisely that: BREAKING FREE of them. Not having them be a physical burden around my "neck", so to speak. I'm de-cluttering. Not storing them at a facility, only to have to attend to them at a later date. Or storing them at my parent's house, in the garage. No, they're MY responsibility.

Now, I'm not talking about 100lbs of negatives here. No, maybe 5-6lbs at max. Not a whole lot. But they do take up the better part of 3 cubic feet, so I'd like to not keep tripping over the tub they're in!

Oh, I've been talking with a friend the past few weeks about golf, I've hit the local driving range 2x this week with my $4 purchased-at-goodwill 7 iron, working on my technique. Club's too short, but I'm getting the hang of it. And it's nice to get outside to do something other than think about having a camera in my hand...

-Dan

Michael_4514

22-Jul-2013, 03:21

Every physical object is a burden in one way or another. But you're talking about the equivalent of two or three pairs of shoes. Methinks the burden is in your mind, and I'm not sure throwing the negatives away is going to fix that.

Jim Jones

22-Jul-2013, 05:47

If you must leave photography, do as Cletus suggests. Otherwise, save that old film. A lot of images can be stored in a very small volume. There is occasionally new value in film I shot 60 years ago, and in family negatives almost 100 years old. Imagine the loss if Eugene Atget had destroyed his negatives!

jnantz

22-Jul-2013, 05:57

you are really funny dan, acting as if this film ( and prints ) have some sort
of magical power to burden you with ...

you might want to remove your teeth, there are transmitters in there "they" are tracking you with too ..

( or maybe talk to someone about what is really bothering you ... )

BetterSense

22-Jul-2013, 06:30

The essential differentiating quality of photography is editing. Whether the editing happens in the camera, or before the camera is set up, or on the light table, or after printing--we arrive at the image we want as much through elimination as creation. If you have negatives that you should not have taken, then there is no harm in burning them. however, I prefer to sort such negatives into boxes labeled "junk/burnable" negatives. If they ever become a storage burden, I know I can just toss the whole thing. Sometimes they come in handy for practice loading film holders and such.

DrTang

22-Jul-2013, 07:57

get yourself a Leica Rangefinder.. an old M2 or M3 maybe

one lens - 35mm f2.8

and a small lightmeter - gossen pilot

walk about - take pix

nothing will kickstart your interest back than the best designed, most ergonomic, natural camera with it's greatest lens

simple, easy fun

and doing so (and bringing it back to Large Format) will get your interest back in all photography incl the large film kind

Trigeek

22-Jul-2013, 08:01

I completely understand your desire to destroy your old negatives. The finality can unburden you. I have done essentially the same, though my goal was to get rid of 80% of my photographs and only keep my "better" ones. It was a quick process, went through with a simple "keep vs eliminate" mentality. Took 3 iterations till I was at my goal. Felt pretty good afterwards. My wife and I just did the same thing of sorts downsizing from a larger house after raising two sons, to a much smaller dwelling. Eliminated well over half of our possessions. Though fire was not involved, donations, Craigslist and eBay sufficed after that a dumpster was called in. Felt great afterwards and put us in a good place to move forward with our life.

tangyimail

22-Jul-2013, 08:36

To spend less time on this forum and more time taking better photos, good advice.

Keith Fleming

22-Jul-2013, 08:45

Dan,

I understand what you are saying about your need to break free. Going out and playing golf is a good way to break with the past and into something new. There's also good advice here about how a change of camera format can be refreshing--I've found that borrowing my wife's "antique" 5-megapixel point-and-shoot renews the fun of photography. Change--regardless of type--can be good for the soul.

My experience, however, does provide a cautionary tale about destroying your negatives. My wife's grandfather kept all--and a I mean ALL--of the negatives taken with his various amateur-level cameras from 1916 to 1948. He used local drugstores for processing and printing, so the negs varied from under-developed to dark enough to be bulletproof. Nevertheless, there were enough good negatives that in the mid 1990's I was able to select and print images (traditonal snapshots, really) that showed the history of my wife's family from her grandparents' honeymoon through their youngest childs' departure from home. These images, along with extended captions for each, went into archival albums which my wife and I gave to her parents and siblings (and our kids) as gifts. With the passage of time, the albums themselves have become historical documents, family heirlooms, and treasured.

My point is that you are changing and growing, and you will be doing that all your life. Save those negatives for now--and for the future. Trust me, in 40 years you will be glad you did.
After all, those negatives show your subjects as they are now, and they also say much about you--and your vision--as you are now.

Above all, feel free to grow, change, and move forward.

Keith

David R Munson

22-Jul-2013, 08:51

Daniel - how about give them to someone else to store? Ship 'em to me and I'll archive them in the attic of my father's barn along with my high school yearbooks. Give them to someone else to store and just forget about them. It's not hard, and someday if you want to get back at it, you're going to want those negatives. Even if you don't like the pictures any more than you do now, you'll learn something from them.

Tin Can

22-Jul-2013, 08:54

Good plan and offer.

I just was given 30 year old Polaroids from my ex-wifes estate, I am very glad to have them.

I had totally forgotten them, but now I remember shooting them.

Daniel - how about give them to someone else to store? Ship 'em to me and I'll archive them in the attic of my father's barn along with my high school yearbooks. Give them to someone else to store and just forget about them. It's not hard, and someday if you want to get back at it, you're going to want those negatives. Even if you don't like the pictures any more than you do now, you'll learn something from them.

ridax

22-Jul-2013, 09:14

Been there. Burnt thousands of that stuff one snowy night. No I would not pretend there wasn't any drama in the action. Do I regret it? No, not too much. Why? Because today I know they weren't as good as I thought they were when I made them - and when I destroyed them, too. But do I think I'd better keep them? Yes I do. Why then? Because I still do remember those, and ever since that very night, my memory is cheating me badly, showing me the mental images that are way better then the actual photos were. And I'm sure I would get free from the burden of the past much faster if I could look at those gone pictures from time to time to appreciate the great improvement I made in the decades passed since that winter night....

That's all about the images that make more or less sense to me and do arise some feelings of course. And as for the ones I consider to be pure failures - I still trash lots and lots of those each day I get more film processed. And there is really no drama in getting rid of those. And no advertising goes to forums for the events like this. ;)

Peter York

22-Jul-2013, 09:54

I save everything I shoot, and I used to scan everything. My failures are the most important because they help me develop my skills and vision.

Merg Ross

22-Jul-2013, 11:00

A lot of free advice, Daniel, I guess that is what you wanted --- here's a bit more!

If you consider yourself an artist, and find your negatives burdensome, then photography may not be your outlet. Have you lost the passion that you seemingly possesed a few years ago? No problem, try a different avenue of expression --- build furniture, draw, paint, sculpt, write poetry, become a tatoo artist (great future), play an instrument --- there is no end to the possibilities.

Nothing as dramatic as burning your negatives is necessary, although discarding some along the way is not a bad idea. How many photographs have you made that excite you? A half-dozen would seem an appropriate number at your age and years of practice. Don't expect a larger number. Have you talked to your mentor or mentors --- I know you had one who has dedicated most of his life to photography, I'm thinking of M.S.

Whatever path you choose, I know you will be successful.

Best regards,
Merg

Gudmundur Ingolfsson

22-Jul-2013, 11:45

I have a whole vault full of negatives, many are forty or fifty years old. I made those photographs but I have no personal connection to them at all. I do not consider them "mine" any more. But they grow more and more interesting as documents of time, of interiors of exteriors of cars of streets of clothing styles and so forth... Think about Eugene Atget. Only the Surrealists, Man Ray and Berenice Abbott with the financial support of Julien Levy managed to save his glass negatives from the waste dump. - I am not saying that you or I are anything close to the genius of Atget, but let others be the judges of that in due time. Burning or dissolving negatives in water is only for guys like Brett Weston who have absolutely no doubt about their position in photography and have spent decades making fine prints.

Jim Jones

22-Jul-2013, 16:36

I watched 1600 rolls of 35mm film, some LF negatives, and a decent darkroom go up in flame when my darkroom burned down almost 30 years ago. Some of the negatives, properly catalogued and identified, would have historical value. It had been my intention to donate them where they could do good. It still hurts. Anyone who hopes to become wiser as they age should not hasten to destroy their past; it is the foundation of their future.

Jim Graves

22-Jul-2013, 21:13

Daniel ... burn them ... don't look back ... you won't print them and neither will anybody else. I just did the same thing with my 30 binders of negatives. I think I kept one binder of about 100 shots ... and that was too many ... i should have thrown away at least 1/2 of those ... probably more.

Point forward and shoot new things that interest you ... all the old negatives do is weigh you down.

I think about the 40,000 negatives Ansel Adams donated to a university ... who cares? There are probably 50 that are great ... and those have been printed and reprinted. The other 39,950 are simply taking up space ... what are they worth? NOTHING.

Eric James

22-Jul-2013, 22:53

Anyone who hopes to become wiser as they age should not hasten to destroy their past; it is the foundation of their future.

Beautiful Mr. Jones!

tangyimail

23-Jul-2013, 05:04

Anyone who hopes to become wiser as they age should not hasten to destroy their past; it is the foundation of their future.
nicely put

tangyimail

23-Jul-2013, 05:07

Interesting, theses days I increasingly leave my linhof and tripod in my trunk and walk around with an elmar mounted on a Nex-7. But I still go back to my linhof and deardorff when I find a good location.

get yourself a Leica Rangefinder.. an old M2 or M3 maybe

one lens - 35mm f2.8

and a small lightmeter - gossen pilot

walk about - take pix

nothing will kickstart your interest back than the best designed, most ergonomic, natural camera with it's greatest lens

simple, easy fun

and doing so (and bringing it back to Large Format) will get your interest back in all photography incl the large film kind

Robert Hall

23-Jul-2013, 07:44

If we all burned our crappy negatives simultaneously, the Earth would be shrouded in smoke for decades, causing a new ice age. :D

- Leigh

+1

ridax

23-Jul-2013, 07:54

Revisiting this thread, I am inclined to think that to burn or not to burn is not really the question. The main question is, how to improve one's photo editing skills? And I agree with those who have more or less expressed their suspicion that residing to any fireworks is merely a sigh the author has just come close to understanding his editing skills are not sufficient for his current needs....

Myself, I've found out editing my own stock of photos was often too tough a task. I came to conclusion a better way to learn was to practice in editing (i.e. choosing) images made by others - as those were just images for me, and no memories of the process of making those and no wishes about how they should (as opposed to how they actually did) come out interfered into the editing. After a fair amount of time and effort spent on editing other people's work (not committing any job as an editor, just doing that for my own pleasure), I noticed my skills refined, and I was really able to judge my own photos better, too.

Besides, that practice changed my style and subjects choice enormously. In the early days, my photography was all in the legacy of the tradition that dominated the local amateur photographers' clubs here.... No there weren't any written-down rules anywhere; but looking back, I'd say the common beliefs looked as iron-cast as a primitive tribe's taboos. "Don't ever let the subject look into your lens! For that's what only uneducated snapshooters and the despised low-grade studio artisans do." "Try to catch a moment as unusual and abnormal as you can. For that's what the real skill is." "Don't shoot things that are just beautiful, for that's what the commons like. To be a real artist, shoot something shocking instead, for a true artist is to be against the stupid crowd." Street photography was valued above all the rest. In landscapes, elaborate printing - to the level of making the print to look nowhere near reality - was valued perhaps more then the subject. Etc... Thinking of it now, I feel that kind of photography looked more like a special sort of sports rather then a fine art practice.

That sport was interesting enough while I was still a beginner but it got totally frustrating the day I understood I was no longer worse then the other club members. Then, I looked at the photos themselves. And I understood I didn't want to make them any more. They just were not interesting to me. (And I suspect they were of little interest to anybody outside the clubs community either.)

I started looking for any photos (by any authors) that I'd like to watch again and again, for hours year after year. Now, those are all in a single folder in my computer (as I can't find and/or can't afford real prints of the most of those). Last time I counted, there were 136 images there; 91 of those were definitely LF. 108 were of human beings. No more then 11 (and maybe less) of them could be considered candid; the rest 80 were surely posed. In 70, there were people looking straight into the lens. In the pictures of beasts (20 total, 14 of which being cats), the ratio was still higher, with 12 of the 20 subjects looking straight into the lens.

Oh, and on the personalia represented in that my own folder of choice... There is not a single photo by any of the Magnum people there. There are 2 pictures by C.Watkins and 2 by A.Adams. 2 are by J.Sturges and 4 by B.Rheims. But there are 31 by Matthew Brady and his team of pros that worked together... and 29 by Lewis Wickes Hine (who had no photo assistants at all...).

Could I ever guess what I was really interested in if I just continued shooting the way I was inspired by the community and analyzing just the pictures I made myself? You bet I'd never do, no matter how much of those I archived - or burnt.

Tin Can

23-Jul-2013, 08:17

Most writers have editors, it works for me.

DrTang

23-Jul-2013, 08:33

"Don't ever let the subject look into your lens! For that's what only uneducated snapshooters and the despised low-grade studio artisans do."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

what a bunch of maroons

ridax

23-Jul-2013, 09:21

Most writers have editors, it works for me.

It works for everybody. More so, I'm pretty sure the other way does not work for anyone. But by no means that implies a writer (or any other artist) should have no editing skills him/herself.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA
what a bunch of maroons

Yes it is. It's really funny when put as explicitly and as exaggerated as I've put it above. But believe me it's not funny at all when you are influenced by that (or any other) kind of nonsense right from your nursery school. Then, it's really tough a task to extract that out of the common beliefs and out of your own soul and rephrase it in as funny a way as above.

And I don't think any of us is totally free from this or that cliches. It's only other people's ones that are recognized as funny nonsense at once. And our owns are just universal truths, aren't they? ;)

C. D. Keth

23-Jul-2013, 09:41

If nothing else, keep your negatives as a benchmark for future growth. You'll see how much you have improved. Lock them away and don't think about them if you must, but I wouldn't destroy them.

Tin Can

23-Jul-2013, 09:41

It works for everybody. More so, I'm pretty sure the other way does not work for anyone. But by no means that implies a writer (or any other artist) should have no editing skills him/herself.

In Chicago we prize our unsung, unknown idiot savants, ala, Henry Darger and Vivian Maier.

I am doing my best to emulate them...

Perhaps I need to escape from here.

DrTang

23-Jul-2013, 09:45

And I don't think any of us is totally free from this or that cliches. It's only other people's ones that are recognized as funny nonsense at once. And our owns are just universal truths, aren't they? ;)

I suppose

I tend to gravitate towards doing things exactly opposite of cliches - so maybe that is my cliche

Otto Seaman

23-Jul-2013, 10:44

I think Daniel said it best, saving out the older family shots, even the boring wedding candids and such, makes sense because once those people are aged or gone it's important to remember them. In a fire I'd readily save the old family snapshots way before any "fine art".

And of course he is saving his best work and successful photos.

But why not burn all the mediocre, even if a few gems get lost in the process? They are only pictures and even if Daniel becomes a famous photographer someday, are the early photos that important? When I look at the early Avedon, Walker Evans, Irving Penn or Ansel Adams photos I think not - they made pedestrian student photos too. I saw a show of Diane Arbus's contact sheets once, it was horrid.

And if some missing link gets torched, so what? It will only add to the mystery of the late great 21-st Century artist and revolutionary war leader, Daniel Stone.

What will the world miss? Photos of old barns, train tracks, self-portraits in the mirror with a Leica, student still life photos of eggs and wine bottles. 4x5 shots of tall buildings to show perspective control. Wooden portraits. Polaroids of empty beer cans. Ugly nudes of flabby girlfriends. Stupid tearsheets for stupid clients. Haven't we all seen these before?

Really, I came up in the 80s doing thousands of archivally processed, Selenium toned fiber prints, carefully double matted. And most are so freaking boring I threw them out too. I went from about 200 cubic feet to 12 cubic feet. Nobody cares about how hard you worked or how many pictures you made in the past. Just go forward, make new work, keep that process going and screw the rest.

No client, gallery, or patron worries about your old work. You're competing against the Dash Snows and hipster posers who think because they used a roll of 35mm film that they're special. LOL.

Jerry Bodine

23-Jul-2013, 11:03

I'm reminded of a recent personal disaster. Many years ago, a friend's young daughters asked me to photograph their new kittens. I obliged by placing the black and white kittens in their dad's shiny dress black shoes (for scale) and used the Hasselblad at carpet level with b/w film. They were ecstatic when the prints were given to them. Then I discarded the negatives, thinking I'd never print them again. Just a few years ago, long after the kittens had departed for the great sandbox in the sky, their house burned to the ground while away on vacation. Their mother called to ask if I still had the negatives and could re-print them. It was as gut wrenching for me as for the girls, as I could feel their grief. My point is that we can never know how much grief can come from NLA negatives.

Jim Galli

23-Jul-2013, 13:16

Daniel, if you've got one of those Calumet Green Monster 8X10's that's made out of magnesium . . . just think of the YouTube possibilities.

Tin Can

23-Jul-2013, 13:30

In the 60's we did that with dead VW's.

Daniel, if you've got one of those Calumet Green Monster 8X10's that's made out of magnesium . . . just think of the YouTube possibilities.

Mark Sawyer

23-Jul-2013, 14:14

As a general rule, I think it's better to have people ask why you burned your negatives than ask why you didn't...

invisibleflash

3-Aug-2013, 18:26

Hi Dan. You must be loaded if you can afford a drum scanner. Make sure you really look the negs over and don't rush to the funeral. You may be sorry later on. I lost all my work form the 80's and 90's in a flood in 2001. So I know loss!

Good luck in finding the sweet spot that you seem to have lost with freezing time!

sanking

3-Aug-2013, 19:11

I've decided to put 90% of it all to a viking-style funeral, burn em all! Well, I'm saving the family/friends shots, some other chosen frames, and my Iceland negatives, but the rest will be crispy this week.
I've always found that performing IRREVERSIBLE actions in times like these is the best way to put my energy into what AHEAD of me, rather than the past.

Dan

If you are not happy with your work a reset may be in order. All of us have done that from time to time.

And yes, unless you have a large archive of negatives to scan, getting rid of the drum scanner might be a good thing.

At your age there are really no irreversible actions. But some actions to get rid of equipment you are not using might be liberating.

Don't make decisions based on equipment and/or ideology. If you want to advance in your work look deep inside and ask yourself what it is you want to do. And ask yourself where you want to be in 5-10 years with that work? Is digital or film necessary to achieve that end? Is any of the equipment you now own necessary?

Sandy

mdm

3-Aug-2013, 19:34

sanking

3-Aug-2013, 20:19

Dont do anything drastic. Go with the wild man into the forest. Fully own your creative energy. Sex, drugs, rock and roll, lots more sex. Live with yourself. Then, only then, pull the box out and look at your skeletons. Some may go, some may stay.

Don't pay any attention to David, except for the sex.

Liberate yourself by selling of all the crap that is inhibiting your growth and use the money to take a three year trip around the world!

Sandy

BrianShaw

3-Aug-2013, 20:47

... lots more sex. Live with yourself. ...

It may be more fulfilling to live and have lots of sex with a partner of one's choice.

BrianShaw

3-Aug-2013, 20:49

... or do a total reset, and get married, and have children. That is when photography took the most drastic change for me. Ha ha ha.

Leszek Vogt

3-Aug-2013, 23:20

Taking time out is good. Getting rid of negatives/slides from late 60's or 70's would be unthinkable for me....I kept all of them. Even the hokey stuff while I worked for HS yearbook. Picture this, the cheerleaders tried to tell me how perfect they were in making a turn (simultaneously) and 1/1000sec really showed up their bs. But, mostly it's family photos and wonderful memories from over 40yrs ago. Some folk is no longer living and the rest want the photos (in the worst way), since I was the only one capturing them. But, the digital side of me is way way more ruthless....I permanently deleted over 11,000 shots = 77GB since 2009....yes I keep a tab....and that's pretty much 1/2 of what I shot.....and if push came to shove I could let go another 5K.

Anyway, it's something that you can't undo. Good luck.

Les