How many times have you re-invented yourself as a photographer?

As others has stated, it’s been an evolutionary process, one of growth, sometimes in spurts and stops, all staring in 1973 when I just happened to accompany a friend to watch what goes on in a darkroom.

I suspect that I’ve been driven by two forces, processes and images, which I have not always seen as sythesized. Exploration of processes and techniques, purely for the fun of it, has resulted in an image or two that I like. Other times I see, either in real life or my mind, an image that tells me I must make a photograph of it. This latter force has become much stronger over the years and resulted in my time drawing (graphite and/or ink) competing with time doing photography. Lately, the last few years, I’ve been merging photography and drawing into single, hybrid images.

It’s never been a goal to monetize these endeavors as I’m financially secure from other efforts so I only create what I want to create with little concern about selling, although I do like showing, something I’ve been more attracted to, and comfortable with, as I’ve gotten older, another sign of growth.

Some of these photographers have been at it a long time. 60 years? I started doing serious photography my junior year of High School in 1975 so a mere 48 years for me. Since that time while raising a family and all that, I maintained one vision, not to make money, but to make the finest images I can make. It has taken a long time, but I am finally ready to go make the images I have been moving toward since that first print came up in the developer in my very first photo class in High School. I recently completed my fourth dedicated darkroom build. Retirement has allowed the time necessary to do serious photography. Much of the time I have spent has been rebuilding my equipment since I have never had the discretionary funds others have enjoyed. Currently shooting a Korona 11x14 camera which I can only get film for once a year, plus a Bronica SQA, Minolta Dynax, plus some digital cameras which are not even important enough to mention. Getting the darkrooms planned, built, plumbed, wired and all that took many years. Rebuilding the Korona from a broken non-functional piece of junk from an antique store into a brilliant camera was also a challenge. No groundglass was available anywhere so I had to learn to make my own. I have sold thousands of focusing screens since then. The bellows were rotten, so I had to learn to make bellows myself and even wrote a book about bellowsmaking. The bed of the camera was toast. I had to make and replace wooden pieces on the rear standard and the bed. The lenses I wanted were outside of my budget so I bought non functional shutters with the lens elements I wanted and repaired the shutters. I also installed a Packard shutter behind the lensboard.

That is why after 45 years of moving in the same direction, I have produced no photos that I am proud of to date. That is about to change.

Barry

I'm still inventing myself for the first time, I haven't had a reason/chance to reinvent myself yet

logan2z said:

I'm still inventing myself for the first time, I haven't had a reason/chance to reinvent myself yet

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That is something I understand. Personality styles have so much to do with this. Some people invent themselves and are solid with that the rest of their lives. They perhaps refine themselves within that original image/invention.
Some re-invent themselves constantly with the input of new knowledge and experiences.
Some do not invent themselves, they just are...thus there is no re-inventing.
A lot of folks are various mixes of the above and/or something I have no idea of.

There are advantages and disadvantage to all the ways of looking at ourselves -- but warning, if you take the time to look at yourself in relation to your photography, you might, heaven forbid, be an artist.

Vaughn said:

That is something I understand. Personality styles have so much to do with this. Some people invent themselves and are solid with that the rest of their lives. They perhaps refine themselves within that original image/invention.
Some re-invent themselves constantly with the input of new knowledge and experiences.
Some do not invent themselves, they just are...thus there is no re-inventing.
A lot of folks are various mixes of the above and/or something I have no idea of.

There are advantages and disadvantage to all the ways of looking at ourselves -- but warning, if you take the time to look at yourself in relation to your photography, you might, heaven forbid, be an artist.

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I have no doubt I'll reinvent myself along the way. But I've only been "seriously" into photography for about 7 years and feel I'm still in phase 1 of my journey.

VinceInMT said:

I suspect that I’ve been driven by two forces, processes and images, which I have not always seen as sythesized.

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I can very much relate to that.

Every time I open the can and see those silver traces on the reel, I feel as if I’ve been given a tiny glimpse into some grand, cosmic secret just out of the reach of my understanding. The quality of the actual images, should it be high, is just a bonus.

Once so far. I got frustrated with my work and with life in general. I took a ten year break.

When I came back to it, I was surprised to find my skill had improved.

Partially I think it was due to having a lot of extra important life experiences that taught me fundamental truths while I was away. That seemed to help more with the "emotional impact" or "soul" of my photos.

The other part of it was that I was probably still observing and thinking photographically even when I wasn't shooting. I guess that's the technical side.

I reinvented myself as an engineer many times. In photography it was not so much as reinventing myself as learning new skills, using new types of equipment and going back into the darkroom again after over 60 years.

TheFlyingCamera said:

NOT trying to convert you away from film in any way, but digital has come a LONG way since 2001. If they announced tomorrow that all film was gone, and that all film cameras were now illegal, I could be satisfied with using my Fuji XT5 or splurging and bumping up to a Fuji GFX. But since that's a purely fantasy exercise, with no reflection on reality, I'm very very happy to keep working with my large format film cameras and my Rolleiflexes.

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Agree. I've been on this forum for decades and was a late adopter of digital, but that boat has sailed.

Interesting question. I have “evolved” I suppose (since the 1960s when I started) in that I have used many different formats and cameras systems, and have fully embraced digital without giving up my darkroom (but came close!). I may (or may not) ever shoot another frame of film, but similar to what others have stated, I could print from existing negatives for a long time, and intend to get back to doing just that soon.

As for re-inventing: several years ago, I looked back at my lifetime of work (almost all amateur) and decided that while there was good stuff there, I know longer needed to take any of those pictures anymore. You know, the usual trees and rocks, architectural, etc. I elected to go into the studio and experiment with still-life and macro. I still shoot the landscapes and buildings, occasionally, because “they’re there”. Also, I go on field trips (photo walks) with a couple of groups, and that’s what they do. But my personal desire is in the small setups.

Whatever floats your boat.

David Brown said:

Agree. I've been on this forum for decades and was a late adopter of digital, but that boat has sailed.

Interesting question. I have “evolved” I suppose (since the 1960s when I started) in that I have used many different formats and cameras systems, and have fully embraced digital without giving up my darkroom (but came close!). I may (or may not) ever shoot another frame of film, but similar to what others have stated, I could print from existing negatives for a long time, and intend to get back to doing just that soon.

As for re-inventing: several years ago, I looked back at my lifetime of work (almost all amateur) and decided that while there was good stuff there, I know longer needed to take any of those pictures anymore. You know, the usual trees and rocks, architectural, etc. I elected to go into the studio and experiment with still-life and macro. I still shoot the landscapes and buildings, occasionally, because “they’re there”. Also, I go on field trips (photo walks) with a couple of groups, and that’s what they do. But my personal desire is in the small setups.

Whatever floats your boat.

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Still life is a great opportunity for creative expression - I think it challenges a lot of people because unlike photographing landscapes or the built environment, or even portraiture to a certain degree, there is NOTHING in a still life photo that is not intentional. You have total control, and therefore total responsibility, over everything that is in the frame. You can't excuse it as "well, I couldn't chop that branch off the tree" or "The dog walked into the frame just as I was clicking the shutter". I'm going to be doing some macro still life stuff tonight actually, and playing with a new-to-me toy - a Pentax 67. I wanted something I could do macro work with, and you can't REALLY do it with a Rolleiflex for a host of reasons.

David Brown said:

I may (or may not) ever shoot another frame of film, but similar to what others have stated, I could print from existing negatives for a long time, and intend to get back to doing just that soon.

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I have only been shooting film for about five years (and very, very part-time at that) but I have already amassed three binders of negatives (I throw away lots...I have to love them to keep them).

As you say, I could spend a fairly significant amount of time printing/experimenting with just those negatives.

Yet...I am still rather intoxicated with the process of film photography...the clicks and clacks, the winding and grinding, the full-manual nature of it (I shoot a Nikon FM and a Mamiya....not even any batteries). And I still get a little tingle when I pop open the wet lid, place it in the sink, pull the reel out, and VOILA, clumped silver bits somehow making an image! There's enough mystery in it still so that I expect I'll have three more binders in a year or two. I'll probably croak with the vast majority of the exposures never having made their way onto enlarging paper.