It has been 8 months since I said I would post a picture every day over summer, I am proud of how long it went on for until I inevitably stopped. I think that, although I was passionate about it when it started, I sort of shot myself in the foot from the get go. A picture every day isn't going to help me improve, its just going to teach me how to cut as many corners in photography as possible. This is the complete opposite of what I plan on doing with art for the rest of my life since I have great ambition to earn a living by creating it. I want there to be integrity to my pictures, that someone can see by looking at them. I think a new summer plan needs to be made, one that caters to my want for thought and time. Things that spring to mind are photo essays or a photo book of summer featuring the best pictures.
Updates:
Recently I got in contact with a local music venue in Bristol and managed to get into the photo pit for The Bristol Ska and Mod Festival. This was the fist time I had ever done an event like this that wasn't for my friends and was in quite an official sense. I was excited when I arrived a few hours before the public, there was lots of people dressed in black cargo trousers and black t-shirts setting up equipment and dragging barriers into place. I managed to explore the place before any of the areas were sectioned off, it is located in what i was told to be an old rail shed near the Bristol harbor. This meant lots of large spaces interspersed with some smaller areas that were re-purposed as green rooms and VIP bars, along with the old windows and a lack of people I found a bar filled with retro vintage furniture and the contrast to what the room was usually used for, serving performers and being filled with noise. I found it quite calming to be snooping around, my shadow covering the large statement pieces of furniture as I walked past the large arch windows, it was peaceful and calm. If I went up to the same room only a few hours later I imagine it would have been bustling and noisy, claustrophobic almost.
After my exploring was complete I found myself in a small hut with a few of the artist liaisons, we talked about Bristol and what it was like to be in the music industry in this water penetrated city. It was really great to have an intelligent and passionate conversation with a real person really working in a creative industry, not exactly on the same scale as when I was runner on a feature film but the comparison is still there to be made. It opened my mind to the struggle and how rewarding it can be to even be an unknown in a creative industry. All that's on many young peoples minds is the audience and fame to be blunt, and I am not exempt from this, I want to be a large part of the film industry when I am older. Now I have a new appreciation for the struggle to get there, the day to day, making calls, sorting venues, organizing people, all of this seems to have romantic connotations to me. The poor runner who is constantly emailing and striving to get that next break and to meet the right person, it seems to me that to be in a position like that is rewarding, giving the person a sense of purpose in their life, they are going to give it all to get the next job and do what the are truly passionate about. I want to be in this position some day.
The rest of my life is ahead of me, its all there far into the unknown, but I think the best position I can be in is to be passionate and hard working. I'm ready for that, I'm ready to start my life right now and get to uni so I can start learning what I need to know. I can't wait to have a awful flat somewhere in London and live with people who are hungry for more. People inspire me in all that I do, they are beautiful and the most complex study that life is going to offer.
In the pipe line
I own a few different compact 35mm cameras and have a real passion for using them to capture my life in a candid and interesting way, I might do a review on some of them and start a review series on the different cameras I own. big ideas for a little man.
kind regards,
Olly