Every so often my brain feels overloaded with all too many different threads — thoughts, epiphanies, worries, discoveries, regrets — well, you get the point. Normally I try to let things settle before attempting to distill one or two useful subjects to explore further and to write about. But, after yet another sleepless night (not unusual) I felt it might be liberating to throw it all out there and just let it be.
Petrified Velvet
Perhaps a good place to start would be a hesitant recommendation for the movie Manufactured Landscapes, on the work of Edward Burtynsky. This is an immensely important document, and not just for the photography or the photographer. I consider Burtynsky to be a visual genius but have always had a hard time with his work, reducing damaged places and people to just their visual (beautiful) elements, celebrating the aesthetic veneer that belies decay of land and soul. To be honest, I could not watch it to the end. Images of modern slaves – beautiful people devoid of humanity and wildness as they become cogs in an industrial machine – brought about a surge of anger and sadness so profound that about 15 minutes in, I completely forgot this was a movie about photography. You should see this movie if only so that you, too, may remain ever vigilant NOT to become an empty human shell valued only for your ability to produce consumer goods or provide a repetitive service at the expense of pursuing your own desires and experiencing life in the raw.
Somewhat related is a discussion I had with a friend recently that ended up with a profound question: how would you like to be remembered? Each of us, whether we do so deliberately or not, has to strike a balance in our lives and decide how to carve out our most valuable gifts (time, intellect, creativity, etc.) among work, art, family, study, and any number of other pursuits. So many let themselves be carried with the currents, doing what’s expected or convenient at any given time at the great risk of realizing too late that they neglected to place proper value on certain important things. I’m sure every one of us can think of things we’d like to accomplish if we only had a choice. Well, most of us DO have a choice. This is not to say the choice is easy, but the penalty for not making a deliberate choice yourself is having it made for you by others. The implications can be severe. Close your eyes and visualize your headstone. What will it say? Will it be “great artist,” “great employee,” “great friend/parent/sibling,” “great… anything?”
And, as existential thinking often goes, the smallest things may stir the train of thoughts onto new tracks with as little as a random comment. A friend recently remarked that some of my images made her cry. I told her that some of them were also conceived in the same state of mind. Cynicism is the enemy of creativity but is also a requirement for survival in the man-made world. I often tell people I need a couple of days outdoors before I can start relating to it creatively. This is the time it takes to shed the cynicism of daily life and open up to the simple beauty of natural places. Perhaps those who make a quick trip and return in frustration having not found “anything to photograph” are simply not allowing sufficient time for this transformation. Creativity is the expression of the self and those in fear of experiencing raw emotion may never know what lies within their own brains, making them who they are. I believe that true art is a product of profound emotion. My response to my friend was: “if you can’t cry, you can’t be an artist”.
I think this will do for one early morning. Until next time.
Tags: art, burtynsky, creativity, musings, photography
Insightful and thought-provoking, as always, Guy! It’s almost eerie how your posts address topics that have been on my mind at the time…
I’ve been working the last few years on becoming a kinder, gentler Jack, shedding the layers of cynicism built up over a lifetime. Spending time outdoors, enjoying (and photographing) the simple beauty (really for the first time since childhood), has been a major part of that. There’s just no room nor need for cynicism’s protective barrier while watching a sunrise over Lake Superior that brings tears to your eyes and hope to your heart!
- Jack
“This is the time it takes to shed the cynicism of daily life and open up to the simple beauty of natural places. Perhaps those who make a quick trip and return in frustration having not found “anything to photograph” are simply not allowing sufficient time for this transformation. Creativity is the expression of the self and those in fear of experiencing raw emotion may never know what lies within their own brains, making them who they are. I believe that true art is a product of profound emotion. My response to my friend was: “if you can’t cry, you can’t be an artist”.”
Just beautiful, Guy.
Yes! Yes! Yes! You really get what art and life are all about.
This struck a chord in my heart. I can be very cynical, too often. I need to shed this. I need more time in the natural world. I will take heed. Peace…
Beautiful “Petrified Velvet”.
Thanks Guy
Guy, not only are you a phenomenal photographer but you have incredible literary skill. I find your ability to communicate the thoughts and emotions of an artist truly inspiring. It’s always a pleasure to soak up your written words, not to mention your imagery.
I completely agree! I made a goal at the beginning of this year to get my photography moving forward much more than in the past and finally be able to migrate out of full-time employment for other people for primarily all of these reasons. Occasionally I need a little reminder so I don’t get sucked into the repetition of it all and this is exactly what I needed to read! Thank you!
What a beautiful “brain dump”! It’s so amazing what we have up there, if only we let it out now and then. That, and what’s in our hearts. Gorgeous writing, gorgeous photograph (ah, we live in heaven on earth–my humble opinion), gorgeous content. How lovely, Guy.
If only more people could delve so deeply. This post made me think about some people I care about so much, who are bound & determined to live their lives on the surface at the moment, denying their own humanity and true expression of choice. Which *is* their choice, of course, and their current point on the journey…but how much more beautiful all the world could be if more of us lived life out loud and with honest, joyous appreciation of who we are, no?
And a very good, timely reminder for me to consider how I would like to be remembered one day. My actions and words now will shape that later remembrance by others–and that is indeed important to me. Thank you for that.
(Oh, and that movie’s in my netflix queue now. I’m slightly apprehensive given your take on it, but still very curious.)
hallelujah, amen, & namste.
Go words worth pounding into one’s self *(myself included)
…remain ever vigilant NOT to become an empty human shell valued only for your ability to produce consumer goods or provide a repetitive service at the expense of pursuing your own desires and experiencing life in the raw.
The maliciously cynical will get theirs … (or are getting, have been getting, and will continue to get) a dark fog that forever blankets their shallow, negative, and sinister existence
You said if you can’t cry, you can’t be an artist. While I think that is true, IMHO, one needs to get uncomfortable and completely vulnerable…
Great post, and I think being able to cry is a gift, it means you have depth, but such sensitivity can also be a curse, as it brings a lot of pain about things you can’t really change.
Having said that, for me, the best way to be free of it all and open myself to true creativity is to not even care if I’m remembered.
But I will admit that if I am to be remembered, I prefer it be by all the innocent animals I’ve helped as opposed to human beans.
Well said, Guy. I’ve been reading a lot of Carl Jung lately – he wrote often about creativity and art. He was a believer in the kind of passion you speak about, that it allows us to more fully realize ourselves. Jung said, “There is no coming to consciousness without pain.” Experiencing the full range of human emotion is the only way to greater understanding.
YES!
Guy,
Another thought provoking post. I suspect I am more fortunate than most in that I have lived a good part of my life built around the precepts you speak to. This was more evident in my youth, when the lack of responsibility allowed a certain footloose quality to life (what my wife refers to as my ‘checkered past’)! But even when I settled down with the right woman (23+ years now and getting better every day) and raising two great kids, I’ve never lost that core purpose – live life!
It has not always been easy – my professional career is in an extremely demanding and stressful position which some days seems designed specifically to engender cynicism. Fortunately for me, I can shed that brittle shell very quickly. A solo predawn walk on the beach, watching the arrival of the day’s first light, a few moments gazing under a starlit sky, a few hours spent on a quiet trail or gliding an open bay in a kayak and I am there – all else a distant and quickly fading memory. I suspect that in my case, it is because I may be momentarily distracted by the day-to-day, but I never actually leave. My photography has simply become a way of documenting those moments of return.
My tombstone? Jim Sabiston, Loving Husband, Loving Dad, Lover of Life (who happened to take a couple of good photographs while having fun) ; )