Reading Reaction

I really enjoyed our latest readings for my capstone class, "The Picture Story and Photographic Essay." I really felt like I could connect to what the authors were saying, and they helped put a lot of things into perspective for me.

The Gross and Shapiro reading reminded me about the importance of "seeing things freshly and creatively." I learned that looking at things from a new eye level as well as using various lenses and focal lengths are ways I can improve my photography. I know that sometimes I get attached to one particular way of seeing things, and I want to avoid that.

The LensWork piece, "10,000 Hours" really made me think about the effort and time that's put into photography. The author talks about Malcom Gladwell's "10,000 hour rule" in which he says that in order to be really good at something, you have to put in 10,000 hours working at it. I'm not sure why he chose the number 10,000 but I definitely agree with the concept, and I can see this applying to the craft of photography. The author of the audio piece said the average worker who puts in 40 hours a week at his/her job puts in about 2,000 hours a year into his/her job. This would mean at the minimum, it will take you five years to be really good at something and in this case, photography. I actually thought this number seemed kind of low; I would expect it to take longer than that for people to truly succeed at a craft like photography. Nonetheless, I agree with the author in that your success at a skill is determined by how much time and effort you put into it. I'm not sure how long it will take me to achieve my 10,000 hours working in photography but I know that all of my time spent will be worth it in the end.

The chapters we read in Anne Lamott's book, "Bird by Bird," really interested me, and I actually had a hard time putting the book down. I love the way she writes, and I felt like I could relate to a lot of what she was saying. I was initially skeptical of how the book could relate to photography since it's about writing but there were so many similarities between the two. Rita wasn't kidding when she said you could pretty much always replace the word "writing" with "photography" and it would still apply. For example, Lamott talks a lot about not worrying so much over your first drafts and who is going to see them. "Try to get the words and memories down as they occur to you. Don't worry if what you write is no good, because no one is going to see it," she says. I think this is really important to remember with photography as well. I remember stressing out so much in Advanced Techniques because we had to submit our whole take when we shot an assignment. I hated that because sometimes I would be so embarrassed by some of the shots I took. But the important thing to remember is that you're not always going to get the perfect shot on the first shot. You have to start somewhere and even if your first 100 shots completely suck, so what? It takes time and practice; it's a process and a learning experience.

I love when Lamott says, "We may notice amazing details during the course of a day but we rarely let ourselves stop and really pay attention. An author makes you notice, makes you pay attention, and this is a great gift." That exact statement can be held true for photographers and that is one of my absolute favorite things about photography--the ability to make people stop and pay attention.

One of the most important things I took away from Lamott's book is to stop letting my perfectionism get in the way of my photography. I often get frustrated when I feel like my pictures aren't perfect. I'm always thinking "I should have done this" and "I should have done that." But like I said before, I need to come to terms with the fact that my photos aren't always going to be perfect. There's always more to learn and like the famous quote, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

Picture Story

While looking for good picture stories, I stumbled upon a project that The New York Times produced called "One in 8 Million." The series followed 54 people throughout New York and told their individual stories. I was shocked to learn that just one photographer shot all of these stories--what an incredible experience that must have been.

I watched several of the stories but I kept coming back to one in particular called, "May Wong Lee: The Adoptive Mother." I think this is a really great picture story and well-put together piece. The photographer did a good job of capturing a variety of images, shooting from multiple angles and distances. I love the moments she captured as well as the relationships and bonds between the family. I think the audio and pictures went well together and told the story effectively. I had a little trouble understanding a few of the things the woman said but overall the audio was pretty good. What I liked most about this story was the ending. To me, it was very powerful and summed up the story perfectly.

Here is the link to the story:

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1-in-8-million/index.html?ref=multimedia#/may_wong_lee