Soul can be good in small doses too
blansky said:
Many people who don't do photography for a living, have the luxury of following their heart, or whatever, to lead them to take the pictures that enrich their soul.
As a pro, one has to attract, impress and satisfy clients, and at the same time try to grow as a photographer. Obviously, commercial work is a compromise and a collaboration, so the fact that it does not show your soul is understandable.
Michael
There is soul even in my commercial work - it is just less obvious.
Admittedly, when you are photographing weddings, or portraits, or events (which is most of my commercial work), you have a bit more leeway , but I think it is generally true that when photographing for others, there are an infinite number of choices available to you. It is the choices that you make that reveal the voice.
If I have photographed a wedding, and there is evidence in my photographs of the joy, and excitement, and stress, and community revealed there, it shows something about me as well. The things we capture on film, are the things we notice and attach value to and
choose to record.
The "art" may not be earthshaking, or transcendent, but if it communicates in any meaningful way, then it is important and it does express itself in your voice.
Even the presence of good technique has a "soul" element to it. I use as an example a wedding I photographed three years ago for friends/relatives. I used MF colour negative film. There were dozens of people there taking pictures, and the bride and groom got to see lots of other people's pix (some digital, some from film) before they saw mine. When I went to see them with the 5x5 proofs, there were already a number of other people's photographs around - some were even framed. It didn't matter - the bride and groom were amazed at how different the results were from my work, as compared to the vast majority of the other's. They commented on the clarity and detail revealed in the proofs, and commented as well about the expressions I had captured, the relationships between foregrounds and backgrounds, the naturalness of the poses (when posed) and the lucky accidents
of my candid choices - i.e. all the expected results of experience, good technique, reasonable judgment and a liking for and understanding of the work. I believe that they were moved by my photographs, but even if not, they at least enjoyed them, and I expect they will continue to be a source of enjoyment in years to come.
In my case, I had the satisfaction of performing work that I was proud of, and which I too enjoyed looking at, because I felt it captured the event, which was obviously an important one for these people, in a way that accurately reflected the happiness of that day. I also have the continuing satisfaction of knowing that my photographs have brought pleasure to others, which by itself does have value. I would suggest that even if my photographs of that wedding were not unusual, they did and do have "soul".
I would also suggest that, as a result of choices made by me, the photographs I took are clearly an expression of
my view of the wedding day, as compared to someone elses, and as such they do reveal my voice in a meaningful way.
All of this may be a roundabout way of saying that your "voice" can be found in every photographic expression you might make - sometimes loud and clear, and sometimes subtle and maybe even subversive. Some of your images may have so much soul that they need to be labelled with a caution, while others will have a gentle and winning type of soul that lends itself to sitting on a corner of a desk, in a frame, to give you or someone else pleasure for years to come.
If you are at a crossroad, then you have choices to make. Don't worry about making the wrong choices, because by making choices you are just trying out your voice. If you choose something, and then later come to the realization that the choice made was not the best fit for you, then you can almost always make another choice.
Whatever choices are made, if you bring care and interest to your photographs, then your voice will reveal itself, and the images' "soul" will be evident.