Trying to take something that you love and turn it into a job is very difficult especially when the field in question is already flooded. Since the release of digital cameras and smartphones, in particular, everyone has become a photographer. In theory, this is awesome since it allows everyone the opportunity to show their world to everyone else. Of course, a flooded market is a difficult one to navigate when you’re trying to move from hobbyist to serious artist and that’s where I’ve been for some time with my own work.
Another problem I keep running into is the snobbery of the field. This is something I experienced all the way back in high school when I was first learning photography. There were those who were supportive and those who walked around the dark room with their noses up. When I tried getting back into photography, I was confronted with a different style of snobbery. Whether we like it or not, certain things look “good” and others look “bad”, it’s just the way our brains are wired. As a result, there are “rules” to esthetics and to photography. My heavy use of quotation marks here is simply because not every rule applies to every situation and breaking set rules is sometimes necessary to create something impactful. Not everything is black and white, even when you’re shooting in black and white! Add to this issue the absolute insanity of the gear-obsessed zombies and you have a less than comfortable field.
You all know that I’ve been struggling quite a bit lately. I’ve made the decision to isolate myself more this winter season by letting go of a lot of old obligations which has left me with more time for my photography and music. I’m seeing some more interesting classes and workshops and I want to share some of my photos from Laura Valenti’s recent photography challenge that had us forget about everything. Forget about rules, forget about gear, and just focus on you. The idea of change was swirling through my brain when I started and many of my photos reflect that. Past, present, future, and how we move through it all was and continues to flow through my consciousness.
The 10 photos I selected can be viewed on my photography site patricigakisimagery.com. Here, I’d like to show you the photos I took at Paterson Garden with only a 50 mm lens on my DSLR, something I haven’t done for ages. It took a while to get used to the prime lens but I had fun with it and I hope you have fun looking at these photos.
