Navigation

Archive | November, 2010

A re-scheduled life…

By on November 11, 2010 in Uncategorized

With the end of October and the first week of November came a drifting ennui that left me feeling fat and lazy.  Granted I am not overweight at all (182#), but I was on the way to gaining a mental spare tire, so to speak.  Thankfully I was kicked in the ass by a friend, which is what I needed.  As a result I have re-scheduled my days to be more productive and directed.  I have a daily list of ‘to-dos’ which reads the same pretty much every day.  There is time for photography, at least 3-4 hours a day, either film, digital or both (this includes processing); there is time for a few hours of reading; and then I spend some precious qt with my family and meeting friends for coffee.  Social time, if you will.

My five years at SUNY gave my life structure and without it there was nothing to guide my life, just too much free will and randomness.   So I took a month off from thinking…

I am beginning some work (digital and film, abstract and realist) for a nearby hotel which will hang with a couple of other artists for a few months; I am currently printing a small series of snapshots from last spring for fellow students and my own records; my reading list includes some books on artistic aesthetics as well as technical dark room stuff.  In short, for the next three months I am understanding that I am still in school and traveling the academic path to knowledge.  What a relief.

I am always relieved to know that I find greater freedom in structure.

More to come…

JDCM

Re-focusing my energies…

By on November 2, 2010 in Uncategorized

Since my graduation from SUNY last month, I have discovered that I have become unfocused.  The last five years have allowed me to concentrate on a specific goal, i.e. securing my history degree, long overdue.  I have done this to the best of my ability.  I have written recently about setting new goals and have, I hope, been able to communicate how difficult a task that can be.  Sure, I have my photography, but I am slacking in some areas of that. There are rolls of film piling up that demand my attention; there are prints promised that have yet to be made, let alone test-stripped; I need to get back into the swing of things with a vengeance, as if my life depended upon it, which in a strange way it does.  If this is the path I am to tread, then I must get on with it and stop gazing at the scenery on the side of the road!  I need to focus and get the work done.  Maybe I should make a list of projects.  I’ll start here..

1. Develop all the rolls of 120 film from my trip to Provincetown.

2. Sort through the negatives of fellow students from last spring.

3. Choose the negatives I wish to print and get that done!

4. Sort through the “Lighthouse” negatives and print some of them.

5. Begin work on the “Beekeeper” project.

If I really apply myself, these labors could occupy much of my time.  That’s the issue, I think.  I have a lot of time on my hands and am not using it wisely.  I lack the discipline I have had in the past few years in regards to my academic work.  I need to think one word–

PORTFOLIO

–take it seriously and go from there.  This includes 4×5 contact prints, once I am more capable with that camera.  The most recent exposures are better, not so bulletproof.  I will make this happen.  No more hoping, no more dreams of completion.  I will do it and be happy because I will have worked hard to accomplish these tasks.

More to come…

JDCM