What challenges do older artists face?

[ChristopherCoy]

This has given be a unique perspective on the generational differences since I am older than everyone, even the professors.

How do you do this? I don't know that I could take a college professor seriously if they were 25+ years younger than me. Especially with your veteran status. You've seen and experienced more than probably the entire classroom combined, and yet you have to sit there and listen to them spout off lessons.

 

[Wallendo]

This brings up another thought.

With more life experience, do older artists face different challenges in their vision? Without the effects of external influences, do younger artists see things more clearly, or with less worry?

The challenges as you get older, tend to be finding new ways to express your vision. For younger people, the challenge is often how to determine their vision. With increasing life experiences, we often find that reality is less clear than we imagined when younger. The clarity of youth is often due to lack of understanding the depth and complexity of real-world issues.

I will finish with Matt Smith's final monolog on Doctor Who:
"... The Doctor and I always will be. But times change and so must I. We all change, when you think about it.
We are all different people all through our lives and that's okay, that's good. You've got to keep moving so long as you remember all the people that you used to be.
I will not forget one line of this, not one day, I swear. I will always remember when The Doctor was me..."
Much of this may not make sense if you don't follow Doctor Who, but the bolded part is most important. As we get older, we are still who we were when we were younger, but are also very different people. As we change, our vision changes, and our photography should change with it. If your art doesn't create ongoing challenges, is it really art?

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I will NEVER do another bridal show again as long as I live. They are the absolute WORST. Buncha bitchy women being unnecessarily "high maintenance" because they think a wedding gives them the right to act as such.

Don't worry, I wasn't suggesting bridal shows. Just making the point that regardless of your genre of photography, marketing is the vast majority of your time, followed by sales, brought up last by creative work.

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

How do you do this? I don't know that I could take a college professor seriously if they were 25+ years younger than me. Especially with your veteran status. You've seen and experienced more than probably the entire classroom combined, and yet you have to sit there and listen to them spout off lessons.

In my day job, my team lead is a decade younger than me. Whet he brings to the team is the ability to organize stuff, as well as technical excellence. So I have tremendous respect for him. Same with photography teachers - when I teach, some of my students are high school or college age. Some of them are my age, and some of them are retirees with 20+ years on me. They're choosing to take my class because I have something to share that they want to learn. And when I take classes from others, it's because they are sharing something I want to learn. I've learned the etiquette of keeping my mouth shut in class when I think I know better than the teacher, as a courtesy to them - I'm not the one getting paid, they are. Now, if they spout off something that's factually WRONG, I'll speak up. But I don't try to override them because I know how obnoxious it is to have a student try to take over my class.

 

[MattKing]

How do you do this? I don't know that I could take a college professor seriously if they were 25+ years younger than me. Especially with your veteran status. You've seen and experienced more than probably the entire classroom combined, and yet you have to sit there and listen to them spout off lessons.

The most important thing you learn from all that experience is that there is so much more to learn, from so many other people, and that the learning is more fun than just about anything.
It is a lot easier to get something of benefit from someone else if you are confident in yourself.
My answer to your question is: "Remembering what it is like to be young and naive".

 

[ChristopherCoy]

In my day job, my team lead is a decade younger than me....

My sponsor said my issue is about setting expectations. He said he experienced the same thing when he first got sober, except in reverse. He felt that older people couldn't teach him anything because they were out of touch and not with the times. Maybe I just look at younger artists with expectations, instead of for who/what they are.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

My answer to your question is: "Remembering what it is like to be young and naive".

THAT is a double edged sword. I know what I was like when I was 18/19/20, and I also know that I could not listen to myself at that age, today. I'd probably have slapped me.

 

[rick shaw]

OK, you've got 33 answers to mull over. Now grab the camera and hit the bricks. No time like the present.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

OK, you've got 33 answers to mull over. Now grab the camera and hit the bricks. No time like the present.

Aw you're cute. Unfortunately I'm stuck in the dispatch hole until 6pm, and again tomorrow. So I'm reading between posts.

 

[rick shaw]

Aw you're cute. Unfortunately I'm stuck in the dispatch hole until 6pm, and again tomorrow. So I'm reading between posts.

Why aren't you taking/making photos in that hole. A hole is a terrible thing to waste.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

Why aren't you taking/making photos in that hole. A hole is a terrible thing to waste.

This place has all the inspiration of a dirty portapotty.

 

[eddie]

This brings up another thought.

With more life experience, do older artists face different challenges in their vision? Without the effects of external influences, do younger artists see things more clearly, or with less worry?

I think older artists, who have a history of selling their work, can find themselves resting on their laurels, and repeating themselves. I've done over one hundred art festivals, beginning in the mid 90's. I've seen some photographers with the same work hanging on their walls for 25 years. While that may be a good financial decision, it certainly doesn't advance their art. They've traded being artists for being merchants. Sad, but true.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Life is a juggling act no matter how old you are. The trick is not letting the endless and sometimes deafening static-of-life / BS derail you.

OMG we agree!

 

[Ariston]

I have a hard time using adjectives as nouns. That’s why younger artists can call themselves “creatives,” but I can’t.

Seriously though, gear gets heavier on the knees for sure.

 

[rick shaw]

This place has all the inspiration of a dirty portapotty.

Its job is not to be inspiring. Your job is to bring inspiration.
People make a living in big city streets. Your rat-infested hell hole can't be much worse than that. Unless you think it is.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Jealous? No. Why should I be?
I am not plagued by starting up on my own. I established and had my career. I had my family.
I go where I want.
Do whatever I want.
Be whoever I want to be.

Being able to buy whatever I want when I want.

The Mamas And The Papas Lyrics
"Go Where You Wanna Go"

You gotta go where you wanna go,
Do what you wanna do
With whoever you wanna do it with.
You gotta go where you wanna go,
And do what you wanna do
With whoever you wanna do it with.

You don't understand
That a girl like me can love just one man.
Three thousand miles, that's how far you'll go.
And you said to me "Please don't follow".

Cause you gotta go where you wanna go
And do what you wanna do
With whoever you wanna do it with.
Babe, you gotta go where you wanna go
And do what you wanna do
With whoever you wanna do it with.

You don't understand
That a girl like me can love just one man.
You've been gone a week, and I tried so hard
Not to be the crying kind -
Not to be the girl you left behind.

You gotta go where you wanna go
And do what you wanna do
With whoever you wanna do it with.
You gotta go where you wanna go (Go where you want)
And do what you wanna do (Do what you want)
With whoever you wanna do it with.
You gotta go where you wanna go (Go where you want)
And do what you wanna do (Do what you want)
With whoever you wanna do it with.​

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Not that much thinking of challenges but advantages.

Advantages of being older:
- Patience
- Accepting mistakes and, sometimes, failure
- Not necessarily wanting to make a career out of it
- Appreciating the work of colleagues without jealousy or competition
- Appreciating the work of great artists without feeling the self-imposed pressure of wanting to be as great as them
- More focus on meaning, less on image and image-making
- Being able to be self-critical without destroying your self-esteem
- More experience/psychology dealing with people (helpful with portraits)
- No desire to strictly adhering to rules and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, no desire to be a revolutionary
- Serenity now

Advantages of being young:
- Time: when you're closing 60, you know that projects that are important to you may take 4, 5, 8 or 10 years, and you just don't know if you'll have that time.
- Physical limitations: I can no longer trek for hours with a heavy bag on my back; I can no longer quickly shift positions when doing street photography ; I can no longer... well, you get the point.
- Time: yeah, again. When you're young, you know (or rather think) you have time to learn. I'm OK (serenity now!) with the fact that I'll never learn alternative processes if I want to focus on my projects, but it does make me sad.
- Time (did I say time already?): I've learned to accept mistakes, but I also know that I don't have time to make that many...

 

[removed account4]

Aw you're cute. Unfortunately I'm stuck in the dispatch hole until 6pm, and again tomorrow. So I'm reading between posts.

sounds like a place that is full of interesting photographs to be made. instead of closing your eyes to the world of the familiar that presents itself to you open them and see the possiblities.
i could write a book about being stuck someplace but instead of wallowing in the fact that i was bored stiff i picked up film and paper and made photographs. can't listen to the static.

How do you do this? I don't know that I could take a college professor seriously if they were 25+ years younger than me. Especially with your veteran status. You've seen and experienced more than probably the entire classroom combined, and yet you have to sit there and listen to them spout off lessons.

im back in school too, grey hair and sometimes students think i am one of the teachers. ive had a lot of teachers that are younger than me, and my classmates are usually younger than me too. gotta have an open mind cause young people have lots to say and teach.

 

[Ariston]

How do you do this? I don't know that I could take a college professor seriously if they were 25+ years younger than me. Especially with your veteran status. You've seen and experienced more than probably the entire classroom combined, and yet you have to sit there and listen to them spout off lessons.

Ha! If I need surgery, I'd rather have a young surgeon than an old mechanic!

 

[rick shaw]

Ha! If I need surgery, I'd rather have a young surgeon than an old mechanic!

I go for middle-aged; old enough to have some real-world experience, but steady enough not to screw it up.

 

[Pieter12]

Not that much thinking of challenges but advantages.

Advantages of being older:
- Patience
- Accepting mistakes and, sometimes, failure
- Not necessarily wanting to make a career out of it
- Appreciating the work of colleagues without jealousy or competition
- Appreciating the work of great artists without feeling the self-imposed pressure of wanting to be as great as them
- More focus on meaning, less on image and image-making
- Being able to be self-critical without destroying your self-esteem
- More experience/psychology dealing with people (helpful with portraits)
- No desire to strictly adhering to rules and, on the opposite end of the spectrum, no desire to be a revolutionary
- Serenity now

Advantages of being young:
- Time: when you're closing 60, you know that projects that are important to you may take 4, 5, 8 or 10 years, and you just don't know if you'll have that time.
- Physical limitations: I can no longer trek for hours with a heavy bag on my back; I can no longer quickly shift positions when doing street photography ; I can no longer... well, you get the point.
- Time: yeah, again. When you're young, you know (or rather think) you have time to learn. I'm OK (serenity now!) with the fact that I'll never learn alternative processes if I want to focus on my projects, but it does make me sad.
- Time (did I say time already?): I've learned to accept mistakes, but I also know that I don't have time to make that many...

First, I am not young, and I am impatient.
The advantage of age as translated to experience is your eye/vision is more honed and you know how to get what you want in a photo. You do not necessarily follow fads but are more likely to have a more personal style developed over the years. That also has the downside of being set in your ways. A great quote (I don't remember who said it) about being a professional--and I think it relates to having experience--is "Anyone can make a great photo. A professional is one that can make a great photo on any given Thursday at 2:30 pm."
The advantage of youth is so much is new and you may be able to have a fresh take on things. Young artists are more likely to be "discovered," that is gallerists can be more likely to take a chance with a young artist. A young artist can be more open to new ideas, has more time ahead of them, more time to experiment, more time to make mistakes.

 

[warden]

In 2015 I decided to go back to college and get a BFA, something totally outside my previous areas of study. In my state they give full tuition waiver to Vietnam-Era veterans and anyone over 65 so it was a no-brainer.

Outstanding. I'm glad that waiver exists and that you're taking advantage of it!

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

Honestly, I am 52 and I have been a professional photographer since I was 26. It's been a hard row to hoe, as they say. Historically it was difficult, even doing commercial work with a very high level of skill.

At this point, I think it is almost impossible. Digital collapsed the pricing model and now every clown with an iPhone is a "photographer." I got my real estate license several years ago and would not have survived 2020 without it.

As far as being an "artist," I have done some very fine work, but I would reserve that term for people like Mark Steinmetz, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Kenro Izu, etc. That is, the people who could do nothing but their photography, no matter the pain, no matter the cost. I am not one of those people.

 

[ParkerSmithPhoto]

I've done over one hundred art festivals, beginning in the mid 90's. I've seen some photographers with the same work hanging on their walls for 25 years. While that may be a good financial decision, it certainly doesn't advance their art. They've traded being artists for being merchants. Sad, but true.

Yes, I've seen these guys at all the art festivals around Atlanta, selling the same Holga pictures of Paris they were selling when I first saw them in 1998, selling the same macro photos of tiny dolls climbing up sprinkled donuts, selling the same lace-covered, semi-nude cyanotypes. You probably know exactly who I am talking about.

Can't say I would enjoy that at all.

 

[ChristopherCoy]

That is, the people who could do nothing but their photography, no matter the pain, no matter the cost. I am not one of those people.

You know, that is an interesting perspective that I have never thought about. I could not go out and create without worrying about my next meal, bed, or house payment (well, we live on a boat, so slip rent actually). But none-the-less, I suppose I should be grateful that my art doesn't drive me to those extremes, and that I can do what I can do comfortably.

Thanks Parker!