PHOTOGRAPHY TIP :: PERSONAL WORK vs COMMISSIONED WORK One of my mentors told me I loved photography until I started getting paid to do it. When you start doing art professionally its easy to fall into a mundane routine where you only create commissioned art for others... because thats how you get paid. After a long day of work, its difficult to muster up the energy to create for yourself. Art you create for yourself is what professionals refer to as Personal Work. Personal work is the art you create that you may not be paid for, that you might not sell, that might not hang in a gallery... but its the work that inspires you, the work that helps keep you creative. Its the work you create from your heart. One thing Ive found after nearly two decades creating art is that personal work is vital to keep your creative sanity. It gets difficult creating art for others because you spend the majority of your days as a technician whose job is to give the client what they want. This can be very draining if you are spending day in and day out doing things for others in ways you perhaps wouldnt do if it was your own project. Its your job to give the client what they want. I go to the point where I stopped liking photography because I wasnt shooting for myself any longer. I simply didnt have the time. As a full-time artist you can expect that 14-16 hour days are the norm. After a long day, I had very little energy left to go out and shoot my own work. So now I make sure I take at least a few hours each week just to work on my own art... stuff thats just for me, stuff I dont share, wont sell, wont post, wont publish, etc. Its just for me.. alone. These short art sessions become my creative energy to get me through the next week. If you can find the time, try and create art that is just for you alone. Work that you dont intend on sharing. Be as crazy and outlandish as you want. Shoot upside down, out of focus, overexposed, underexposed, while running full speed, doing backflips, etc. Whatever you want. It may just be the creative exercise you need to keep your edge.
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 09:17:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015