Sustainable Prospects- From here to there
Week one done for this new module. My initial thoughts when reading the brief for the week was that it really felt in the wrong place. For example how to be a good student, although it seems aimed more at the role of assisting I personally felt like this was being aimed at much younger, and should even have been at the beginning of the MA or even used with possibly less experienced people and being fair I have come out of this week feeling a lot older. Will Hartley in the interview stated about not wanting to be assisting when he is 40. Oh to be 40 again! I think he is not far off my daughters age. I personally haven't done this MA to learn how to be a photographer or how to be an assistant photographer. I do believe the week is pitched at times as students probably much younger and less experienced than most people on this MA, even students that are wanting to have a career I am sure there are few.
Am I on the wrong course? I don't want to start a business, I already do earn, and do what I want to do. Is this taking me away from what I want to do? Create images.
A quick google showed me I am not the only person over 50 who takes photographs seriously. For example Vivian Cherry.
Paul Tansley- Wedding photographer says "Once you get over 50, you start to look at life a bit differently. When you’re young you never consider being old. It won’t ever happen. When you’re 50 and you start having meetings with pension advisors etc. and they ask you “when do you plan on retiring” it suddenly sinks in that if you were to retire at the previously considered age of 65, you’d only have 15 years left to shoot. I’m 54 this year. So does that mean I can only shoot weddings for another 11 years? I really don’t know. Photography is something you can do at any age really. Sure, it takes a bit of energy to keep going, but I’ve never been unfit, so should be fine on that count. Also, with age, you learn to pace yourself better – which also comes with experience."
This is where I am at. Certainly not looking at starting out but maybe working more at being seen.
That said as I worked through the week, the task to do seven images
was a bit of fun. Done using the only tool I had most of the time which was my Iphone.
My Images are pretty random. I took images with my phone as that was there at the time, that should you show one of my children they would know it was me. I'm not sure it worked individually but as a group, had one of the grown-up kids in tears at the thought of me dying next week and these images would be left.
I found what I discovered is I am a real softy. I believe in love and not much else matters to me but my family and making memories.
What I have learnt by this task was just how sentimental I actually am. When it comes down to it there is not much more that means the world to like my family and home. Yes its great to have material things, but when I said to my daughter how would you feel if these were my last images before I died. She started crying, and told me it would remind her of how loved they all are and of how making memories and recording them means more than anything. Takes me right back to week one of this MA where I was focused on nostalgic photography.
