With the economic climate many shooters are scurrying to make ends meet. I am in a community that loves photography yet getting jobs here that can sustain you are difficult. Most of my work aside of a few very loyal clients come from out of state, NYC, Midwest and LA regions. I travel to work, usually four hours by truck one way or flying to a destination.
This summer I expanded what local photographers call the "Bake Sale" where we manage to sell artist proof prints and editions on the weekend to workshop students and other locals out of Santa Fe New Mexico. I have this posted on Facebook as the Bake Sale. This was an excellent way to create community and was very up beat for many of those who chose to be part of this event.
Feeling driven to make art, I decided to head west to shoot at Burning Man. I was on my way with a buddy who backed out and than I felt squeezed for cash flow so I fundraised my trip to make art. Many friends and strangers supported this raising about 10gs for a 25g project in one month. I am still forging forward with my work which is in the works right now!
Now it is fall and the photography work is trickling in....ad clients are beginning to call my agent in California and we're getting booked. The year as been all about re-inventing and positioning my future to make art and at a moments notice, do the editorial and ad jobs that so support making creative work such as the Burning Man project.
It's said that if you feed the fire of your mind with negative thoughts then you will do just that...and I am feeding my mind with doing and making and creating art...and my life is moving forward and the work is being manifested. I am so up about this next chapter of my life that I have no room for pondering but rather just DOING IT.
If there is a lull in this economic storm then I go out and make art images.... I shoot just about every day and it is really apart of my skin. I look at my inspirations in black and white photography and that propels me into the abyss of shooting. Sometimes I just have piles of film to process. When it gets huge, I get to it. The dark room isn't my favorite place to be...I love being outside in nature. But this winter, I will wrap my head on printing and producing a show of my work hopefully for the Annenberg Space for Photography, ICP and/or Aperture along side the book in production, be it self published or produced by a publisher...it's all good.
I am like a shark, I can't stop swimming or I will die.
Einstein said something to the nature ..."nothing happens till something moves"
