The Goal is “No Regrets”
I don’t know who or where you are but I’m writing this for you…. so stop looking over your shoulder like I’m talking to someone else.
The year was 1993 and I was already into my ‘serious hobbyist’ phase of photography. I had already been published which blew my mind and photography was bringing in a little part-time money. What I thought I would do with my life back then would’ve been closer to a career in business, finance or investing. My camera went with me everywhere though… studying for the aforementioned career path seemed a lot like work but figuring out F-stops and the “holy trinity” of camera settings seemed more like play. No one ever had to ask me to study it…. because I was probably already walking around muttering numbers like Dustin Hoffman’s autistic character in Rain Man. I was probably the very epitome of “F*cking around and Finding Out”. If you missed that blog post…here ya go: https://www.exvotostudio.com/blog/fck-around-amp-find-out-the-artist-version
So that Summer I recall very vividly taking a nap on a Saturday afternoon before going out with my friends for the evening. I had a dream that I was on a cruise ship just watching the horizon when a man fell overboard. The man was swarmed by sharks in the water and eaten pretty quickly (yes this is true story…. don’t judge me) but then the person standing next to me on the deck looked at me and said “did you get that?”. In my dream I looked down at my hands and they were empty and that was enough to wake me in a panic. I sat on my bed for a few more minutes thinking about what just happened but within 30 minutes I was at the local camera shop (Ritz Camera, Columbia Mall) buying a new camera. A camera that would challenge my skill set and I could grow into even more. Because in that moment I realized not only what I wanted to do with my life but also what would make me happy. Now to be fair, I am not out here looking for people that are about to be eaten by sharks so I can document their demise. I AM out here not wanting to miss ‘the shot’ or the chance to document my clients in such a way that makes them stand a little taller or conveys whatever message they need for their campaign.
Prior to that Saturday afternoon dream I was probably too chicken shit to ever think that I could do this for a living but taking that risk has indeed changed my entire life. I have not “worked” a single day that I was with my camera. In 1997 I went into my bosses office and sat down…. and he already knew somehow. He also knew what I was going to do. All he said was “it’s about time!”. He has hired me several times since then for corporate shoots. It all works out in the end my friends. What you want to do may have nothing to do with photography and there are no guarantees in life other than you will die someday. You may fail, you may fall…. but at the very least never let anyone say that you didn’t even give it an honest try. I will leave you with what I have printed on the back on business cards and hope you can pull some motivation from it:
A Zen poet once said,
"A person who is a master in the art of living makes little distinction between their work and their play, their labor and their leisure, their mind and their body, their education and their recreation, their love and their religion. They Hardly know which is which and simply pursue their vision of excellence and grace, whatever they do, leaving others to decide whether they are working or playing. To them, they are always doing both."
All the best to you,
-7
www.exvotostudio.com
