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Thread: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

  1. #1
    Land-Scapegrace Heroique's Avatar
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    Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    Be brave, face this fact: some day, you’ll have to say “good-bye” to field work or studio work – even if you keep reading or thinking or browsing or visiting museums about it.

    Not “choose to.” Have to.

    Not “temporarily.” Forever.

    Not a pleasing thought – nor productive to dwell upon – but this unhappy notion must cross the mind of any thoughtful, practicing photographer, and I’d like to hear why you think it’s important (or not) to keep in mind, and what beneficial consequences it might have on your attitude or conduct.

    Snapshot of reasons: Old age, poor health, deteriorating eyesight, death, family obligations, can’t afford it, lessening interest, loss of artistic vision, too busy at work, competing interests, market changes, etc.

    How have you addressed this matter – or, why do you think “ignoring it” is the best policy?

    — What’s a likely cause (or possible timeframe) for you?
    — How has this notion changed your attitude or behavior?
    — What tips can you offer about delaying this unavoidable moment?
    — Have you already crossed this threshold?
    — When you do cross it (except by dying), how will you continue your involvement in the field? Will you participate here to keep in touch w/ others who are still active? Might you sever ties w/ the LF field altogether?

  2. #2
    Apo-Heespharm-N MC
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    Re: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    ???? Such a random topic... AA did work till he died and Peter gowland built cameras into his 90's!!!!

    Not an inevitability if you choose not to

  3. #3

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    Re: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    Look what Andre Kertesz did later in life... Polaroids in his apartment in New York. Unless one goes blind, I can't see why one can't keep doing photography until the very end. You might not be able to hike up mountains, but that doesn't have to mean an end to photography for you.

  4. #4

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    Re: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    I've had to give up several things in my life due to lack of market for my skills or injuries received in an automobile accident. You just take up something else and move on. It's not pleasant, but it's all you can do.
    juan

  5. #5

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    Re: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    My gosh what a negative perspective for a thread. "...unavoidable...forever....good bye...unhappy...." Give me a break, you can shoot photos as long as you want and if you don't become blind or a quadriplegic. Actually there are plenty of both who photograph.

    My question back: why do you want to explore this, and why with such negative terms?

  6. #6
    http://www.spiritsofsilver.com tgtaylor's Avatar
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    Re: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    Well, here's one of my "call it quits moment" from last week:



    It was after 2am and I was tired and had to get up the next morning. I had burned the "CASTRO" down and saw that I needed to burn the lower marque more while keeping the burn tool closer to the marque. But I was too tired and "called it quits"

    Thomas

  7. #7

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    Re: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    When the time comes for me to stop photographing I'll devote more attention to other interests.

  8. #8
    Apo-Heespharm-N MC
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    Re: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    When I'm too old or go blind is when I'll start doing digital photography :-)

  9. #9
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    Re: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    People wrap their identities up in their activities. I have done this many times, with such silly statements as:

    - I will always need to live in a place that will allow daily long-distance cycling and running.

    - I must have a job that gives me time for a morning pool session.

    - The woman I marry must be compatible with Sunday bike races, Sunday car races, Sunday music gigs, etc. (note that the three Sunday alternatives are mutually exclusive).

    - I have to live where I can work on a race car in the evenings.

    And that doesn't even list the things I've said vis a vis photography. Such as:

    - I have to live in a house with a darkroom.

    And then we have the professional assertions:

    - I will work towards high office in my professional society.

    - I will retire from whomever I am working for at the moment.

    - The woman I marry will have to tolerate spending two evenings a week doing professional society volunteer stuff.

    - I will live in Dallas the rest of my life because of all the potential employments there for people in my line of work.

    All of these assertions sound a lot like "I will do large-format photography until I can no longer breathe." And all of them became unimportant to me at some point.

    I still play music, but I no longer believe I will improve much. And I'm happy with that. One day I asked myself if the work I was putting into my professional society was worth it, and I had no answer. And when I met the woman I married, I suddenly was aware that what she wanted to do with our time together was at least as important to me as what I wanted to do. I don't live in Dallas (and Dallas wasn't the only city about which I've made similar statements). I'm on my sixth employment in my career, and though I intend to retire from the current one, I also know that such planning is not altogether under my control. I no longer have a darkroom, and frankly don't want one--that was never the part of photography I enjoyed the most anyway. I stopped racing bicycles (for which I had so little talent and ability as to be no better than an embarrassment to myself). I stopped endurance sports--twice. I have stopped photography a couple of times. I have stopped playing music once. I've picked these activities up again at times, often because the motivation returned without me really understanding why. I just go with it.

    I have had to face changes in my profession, too. What I learned in college is hopelessly obsolete now, and the sorts of projects that defined my success are rare these days. I have had to greatly expand my expertise into related areas, and have had to see my expertise in a larger context to find the value in it.

    When we make assertions like these, we succumb to the tempting mistake of assuming that life will proceed in the same direction it's going now. It never seems to work out that way for me.

    I've learned that learning is at least as fun as being learned. And becoming learned in one field requires mostly the same mental tools and attitudes as becoming learned in another field. The destination is never where we think it will be, so we have to take the journey for what it is and decide to enjoy it.

    Rick "who plans for the future now lightly" Denney

  10. #10

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    Re: Your “call it quits” moment is coming – here’s what to do about it

    Quote Originally Posted by rdenney View Post

    I've learned that learning is at least as fun as being learned. And becoming learned in one field requires mostly the same mental tools and attitudes as becoming learned in another field. The destination is never where we think it will be, so we have to take the journey for what it is and decide to enjoy it.

    Rick "who plans for the future now lightly" Denney
    To those last three sentences, I say "amen", "so very, very true", and "amen" again.

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