Always Going Forward
Great songs have an arc. They start with something catchy and they build, build, build. Then there’s that moment when shivers shoot down your spine and you close your eyes and exhale and know that you just had an experience. Nothing affects me so viscerally as music. I can tell you the exact measure in Lindsay Buckingham’s “Never Going Back Again” that does it for me. The notes sung and played experience an apotheosis, and all that came before was just prelude and all that goes after is just postlude. It’s usually not sudden: everything builds up to that taste of the sublime.
Books have a different effect on me. A well-written work can leave me savoring the flow of words. My heart lifts when the story takes a turn; when disaster strikes, the world around me dissolves and all that matters is that I know how this story ends. I specifically remember skipping into work one day – literally skipping, and into work of all places! – and someone asked me why I was in such a good mood. At the time I was reading Sabbatical by John Barth, and I’d just spent the last few minutes before my shift in my car, reading some clever, thrilling passage, and just the fact that works like this existed – that let the spirit and the imagination soar – was enough to get me through my tepid workday.
So the problem is how to incorporate this into my photography. I don’t think I’ve ever taken a photo that gave me the same reactions as listening to one of my favorite songs or reading one of my favorite books. In fact, the term “reactions” is itself problematic, because most photos only allow the viewer one emotion; it might vary from viewer to viewer, but most photos are either sad or jolly or wistful or exciting – they’re rarely all those things at once (like a good book is). And they don’t have the benefit of building over time, like a song or a book does. You’re presented with this photo that exists in the immediate; there’s no place to grow or go. I see the appeal of photo series for this, but I don’t think it hurts to try to incorporate it all into one work. The question, of course, becomes how.
Man, but if I ever do figure out this secret….if anyone ever looks at a photo I took and feels the same way I do during that song….watch out ;)
August 1st, 20099:16 am at
Well, I think some of your photos have come pretty darn close to the quality you are describing here – and scrolling through your self-portrait books or your flickr albums will fall short of hardly any book or song.
I had started a long explanation about what I was thinking about qualities of books, songs, photos etc. But to cut a long story short two sentences maybe as good as well: Each art form has its own character, merits, and short-comings. There is no need and probably no sense in making a book/photo/etc. the best song a book/photo/etc. can be – just make it a good book/photo/etc.
Your photos certainly are gorgeous, and I am sure they have given people more than just a few happy glances.