THE VIEW FROM HERE
by Stephen Johnson

Working through a new body of work is challenging. You are first struck by curiosity, then perhaps seduction. A wide range of other reactions can follow.

Early pleasures of feeling that a few successful images have been made can spur you on. The inspiration gives you energy to pore into more work, hopefully pushing limits and your own imagination. Riding this high, a lot of work can be accomplished in a fairly short period of time.

But then, a plateau of "Does this matter?" can hit you, bringing on another, entirely different process. The really hard work begins, the self-examination, the required dedication to keep pushing your own imagination. All the while we need to stay open to discovering new things, unintended and surprising consequences, meanders, and find a willingness to commit tons of time and materials.

As I push outward to new areas, I often don't know exactly where I'm going. An innate faith tends to take over, and as long as more exploration reveals more being seen, then I seem able to keep pushing the process. But self-doubt has always lingered nearby for me, doubting the value of what I do, even as I carry a undefeatable sense of purpose within. Sometimes that sense of purpose seems buried pretty deep, and has to be sought out, sometimes dredged, rather than feeling readily available.

Pulls between fascination/seduction and doubt/fatigue/faith do seem fairly common in creative pursuits, the arts particularly. Photography has its own "reality replication" challenges for uniqueness and insight. As I've mentioned many times, Ted Orland and David Bayles' "Art and Fear" is good book to pick up in times of artistic challenge.

Of course, the hardest thing in the arts seems often to be finding something to hold onto as a vehicle of expression, a style, a subject, or an approach–that conceptual grasp that shapes a body of work. Another way of saying it is that we are trying to be true to ourselves, and at the same time be unique and fresh. Our own work can easily seem repetitious and tired. Understandably. As we are making it, seeing it, getting immersed in it, even the new work becomes deeply familiar, as it comes from us. Intrigue and examination can strangely lead to a visual fatigue and premature notions of "been there, done that." There seems to be a slog through this process to get to the other side of new work, where the pride in the accomplishments come, but sometimes only after initial satisfactions turn to doubt and uncertainty.

Although self-doubt can be eviscerating, it may also be critical in self-examination that drives us to making the best art we can. It's a delicate balance. I've met people involved in the arts with seemingly little self doubt. Few of them have become friends, their art often uncompelling. For me, I find the self-doubt breeds the kind of hard questioning I need, the humility I need to work harder, and in the long run an even deeper sense of accomplishment.

Of course it does help if an early sale kicks things up a bit, as happened with my recent new work. And the sale was a big print, which gave the exploration a real boost. Income is an obvious form of substantiation. That can be particularly true if it gives you some space to continue to press hard on the work. But economic gain has never been a core motivation of mine. Probably makes me an odd duck.

Flora and Form Workshop Coming Up

Check out the Flora and Form  Workshop June 16-18, 2013 at Shelldance Orchid Gardens. Any and all cameras welcome.

Shelldance Nursery. 2013.

...continued top of right column

Computer History Museum Visit and Video

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA is doing an exhibit on Photoshop next year. They came by to interview me a few days ago about my early use of the program and my thoughts about its evolution and influence on my work. It was a kick.

We thought we would share some snippets of the experience here.

Among many other subjects discussed was my early use of Photoshop, then known to us as BarneyScan XP. It shipped with the 1989 BarneyScanner 35mm film scanner I started my film scanning with.

BarneyScan 35mm Slide Film Scanner. circa 1989. From the Stephen Johnson Collection. Photo 2013.

email your comments to us

Consulting Programs and Speaking Events

Virtual Education: Our Virtual Consulting and Mentoring Program is working well. Readers of this Newsletter can still get a discount by mentioning this reference when you enroll.

Our One on One Program links you up with Steve at his bay area studio, or when he is on the road near you. Keep an eye on when Steve will be near your town.

Catch Steve Live: Steve will be speaking here and there over the next year, such as Rockport, Maine in late June, Amherst, MA in July, Dublin Ireland in mid-August, and near Portland, OR in October.

• Pacifica: At the Gallery

Come by and talk with Steve about his ongoing Exhibitions of work on display.

• Maine Media Workshops Artist Lecture.
  Rockport, Maine. June 25, 2013. 8pm

• NECCC Photo Conference July 2013. Amherst, MA

• Tualatin River Photographic Society
  Sherwood, OR, near Portland Oregon
  Saturday October 5. 7pm

Tidbits

Northern California Field Workshops Coming Up

The Golden Gate: September 7-8, 2013

A two day digital photography workshop exploring San Francisco's Golden Gate. We'll spend time in the Presidio with its tremendous views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Fort Point with its spectacular views of the bridge, the Marin Headlands with Point Bonita Lighthouse, views along and San Francisco's ocean headlands of Land's End and the Sutro Baths near the restored Cliff House and its historic Camera Obscura.