On the making of art, again

I've been thinking about my take on art and congruence again, and I can't stop thinking about emotion. My favorite pieces (and the ones I get the most comments on) are the ones where the image crystallizes a moment.  There's definitely some skill involved, but it's also about the artist harnessing the emotion in the moment.

The image above was taken four years ago in Harlem after a great weekend spent with my sister-in-law, Lindsay. We were happy, exhausted, and having a nice conversation as we waited for the next train. Ferris and I had been trying to get pregnant for a year so I was feeling sort of dark and restless for the next chapter. Lindsay and I talked a lot about that...she listened and held my hand.  She was also nearing several crossroads in her personal and professional life.  Turns out, she was on the cusp of great opportunities.  It also turns out, I was pregnant and didn't know it yet. In a way, I think the image captures that looming, dark-to-light, kinetic feeling that something is about to happen...someone is about to go somewhere.

Most of the time, we look at good art and can't put our finger on exactly why it moves us.  Sometimes we can identify how it makes us feel, but sometimes we're left just feeling...something...anything.  I'm certain it's the same for the artist.  They were feeling something...anything and were able to capture it with congruence.

On the making of art

I'm Amy's biggest fan.  No joke, I'd be willing to fight someone for the official position as president of her fan club. So, when she asks a question, I answer.

What moves you in art?

I think there's no difference between making and consuming art. I look for congruence. Nothing else matters except the feeling you get when you've seen, experienced, or read something that is totally and completely in line with the person who made it and the person who is consuming it.  It's a direct line...an intimate interaction.

When I first started shooting, my process was mainly about composition and light.  I took good pictures from my point of view, but I didn't really understand what it meant to produce art until after my first few shows.  Creating an image is only the first step, and to that end you could argue that I made good art. With some experience, though, I've learned that my best pieces (from my perspective as well as critical review) are the ones where all the elements come together...light, composition, subject, technical clarity, printing, and presentation. When all of those elements are aligned, something happens that can't be forced.  And believe me when I say, I've tried to force it.

Good art has to be appealing and it has to mean something, but it can't be pushed beyond it's own merits. That's part of the congruence...not too much, not too little, just enough to say what needs to be said and not a whisper more.

If you're going to speak the truth...

You might as well say it straight.

Since the move over from Letter's Edge to Lula Inc., my readership has more than decreased by half.  People dropped like flies. I've gone back and forth from not caring how many people visit (because I blog for myself not for the masses, right?  Uh huh.) and caring very much about what people think and why they haven't followed me over. I've second-guessed my content, tried to scheme up ways to bring traffic, and thought myself and this venture a failure for not being an overnight success complete with a book deal for Oprah's next book club selection.

I've been thinking about it for several weeks, so, this morning, I decided to write about it.  That's what this whole blog thing is for, right?  Honestly, that's right.  At least those are the blogs I connect to...the people who are writing from their experience, from their hearts.

I don't like setting myself up to feel like a failure, especially when the expectations are so arbitrary and lame.  And truthfully, my goal for this blog has never been about mega exposure.  This blog has been about creating art through writing and imagery.  Its the age-old balance for artists between creating an authentic piece of work you can be proud of and creating art that appeals to enough people to sustain your business.

This is my goal, a mission statement of sorts.

I want people to find my work, to see if they can identify with me.  I want it to be a collaboration between me (the person who wants to create) and the subject (the person(s) who are inspired by what I do and want to play a part in it).  I've found that when the motivation comes from popularity, I fall into a pretty gnarly funk, which is no way to create something beautiful.

So...

Lets hope that if you build it, they will come.

Love,

Steph

Where do you find inspiration?

Adding Miles to our family, no matter how mellow his temperament, was a rude awakening back into the unforgiving world of taking care of a baby.  In the hospital, when I first tried to feed Miles, I stuck him up to my chest and immediately got distracted with something else...thoughtlessly expecting a latch to materialize from nothing.  The nurse took one look at me and asked how old Eva was when we stopped nursing.  Fifteen months.  "Right," she said, "He's a newborn...not a 15 month old. You need to do the work."

Note taken.

Transitions are rough for me.  It's like going head long into a brick wall or taking a bat to a glass ceiling. It can sometimes be that emotionally violent even if I'm showing no external signs.  There are daily transitions: morning, naps, coming home from school/work, evening, sleep.  And majorly huge life transitions that effect your job, your family, your 'self'.  Big or little, I've learned that I need to ease myself into things.  I need to nurture and protect myself as I battle through the brick wall or bust through the ceiling. 

I transitioned away from work (outside of my home) as a social worker at the same time I welcomed a baby boy into our family.  Countless women have tried, admirably, to describe the enormous transition from pregnancy to birth and back again, but there's still no adequate way to describe what it's like to actually make the transition...physically, emotionally, spiritually.  The speed at which your life changes can aptly be described as violent, no matter the amount of love, tenderness, and happiness you experience simultaneously.

I'm writing about transitions because I've spent a good part of the last few months becoming a professional photographer.  I can't even believe the timing, but there was an article in The Times about how amateur photographers are changing the face of the profession.  I have no idea how to validate my claim except to say that something has changed...lots of things have changed about the way I see myself and what I want to be.

Lula Inc. is changed, and with that came the time, the effort, the commitment, the desire, and the dream to be a professional photographer.  So that's what I'm going to be.  But, like I said, transitions don't come to me easily, so I'm starting slowly.  I'm starting by focusing on inspiration, which I'll be highlighting on the left column.  It will probably be a bunch of photographers, but there are all kinds of other things rattling around in my brain these days...music, various art mediums, books, smart people.  We'll see how it goes and what turns up.

That said, one thing will always remain.  I'm inspired by this place, my family, my friends, and you guys.  I listen to everything you say.  We make a collective energy, and while not everything we produce is a masterpiece, we're doing good work.  Great work. Every. Single. Day.

A lesson on the written word

I've decided I must be a creature of habit because the writing portion of this blog has been a bit of a struggle since the launch.  The best part about Lula Inc. is the image formatting which was a seriously limiting factor with Blogger.  Now I can finally post images and love the way they look on my blog and in the portfolio. 

The writing part isn't coming so easily, and it's teaching me a lesson about myself.

I'm having a hard time letting it flow. It had become effortless with Blogger.  I suppose I had a writing ritual which was obviously connected to both the creative end and the technical interface. I new Blogger like the back of my hand. Now that everything is new, I find myself starting and stopping, editing myself before I even get it out, and rereading everything because it sounds choppy and garbled. 

Argggg! (She hisses whilst pulling her hair out and shaking her fist in the air.)

I suppose the best way around the problem is to simply barrel through it. Since the creative piece is feeling stilted, I'm going to spend this week working with writing prompts.  Each day, I'll ask myself a question (likely inspired by lovely people elsewhere in the blogosphere) in an effort to ease into Lula Inc. Without having to come up with the inspiration, I'll have a good amount of time getting to know my new site.  The result, I hope, will be a new ritual of sorts.  A comfortable ritual.

I can't go, though, without posting some pictures. Over the weekend, we had a few friends over to celebrate the fact that Kitty is going to have a baby.

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