this time a year ago i was in oaxaca at a photography ‘workshop’. i felt out of my league (compared to my fellow travellers) with regards to knowledge and skill. but that is kinda why i was there – to hang out with people who knew more than me and learn something.
i haven’t looked at my photographs since then. i was disappointed with my efforts as a whole. i felt clumsy, overwhelmed, and like the camera i was holding was a stranger.
i was uncomfortable making portraits and it shows in my images (well, i think it does). i chopped people off at the knees, didn’t take time to get the shot i could see in my head, i was often not confident enough to even ask people if i could have a photograph. my photos are blurry, terribly composed, very often with no hint of the story i was trying to portray.
i made some really great friends on that trip. really great. but i made some really terrible photographs.
i very often wonder why i bother making photographs… when there are so many people on this earth with more skill, more knowledge, more vision than i feel i will ever possess.
then i think about the way it has helped me slow down and notice things, even when i don’t have a camera in my hand, and i remember – it is teaching me new ways of seeing.
If we wont be better tomorrow than we are today, then what do we need tomorrow for?
– Rabbi Nahman
I think you’re very brave for going to a photography workshop in a totally new place. I’ve wanted to do something similar, but various fears and excuses have stopped me. So kudos to you!
Hello!
Lest you ever wonder about your amazing photography again ~ please let me reassure you that it is magnificent in its soul and scope. On many occasions, I return to your site to soothe myself (and give myself HOPE), and soak in the breathtaking, beauty-filled images you capture. You have SUCH a MAGICAL life!!! And I truly enjoy living vicariously through your photos & stories!
Namaste’