A Work In Progress…
Some Thoughts
Photography for me is more than a hobby.
On and off it has been part of my life ever since I was a teenager when I was given my first camera, a Practika LTL3 (see image below), back in the 1980s of course we didn’t have digital cameras, we had to use rolls of film, which were sent away to be developed, if you didn’t have the expertise or facility to process it yourself. This meant you had to wait for the prints to be posted back to you, sometimes it would take up to a month, but usually was within a fortnight. When you received your photos there was always an anticipation upon opening the folder, seeing your images for the first time, some would have stickers on them, describing where you may have gone wrong, everyone’s a critic! But even though I had many stickers(!) I always felt they gave me a better understanding and helped me strive to do better next time. I guess Instagram etc is a kind of digital way of receiving that critique, with the likes and comments. However, I feel this is more counter productive than useful to my creative process, likely because those stickers were produced by lab tech with expertise in the actual development of the image rather than some stranger on social media who just has a critical eye, or maybe I am just too sensitive? I do struggle with this side of the process and I am not sure waiting for the “likes” is the best way to grow as a photographer. This is why I have now created a website for the next stage of my photography journey. For now just to put up images I shoot as I travel this strange and wonderful world. Be warned my style at the moment seems to be a little scattershot, but hopefully in time I will have built a body of work that I am proud of and will inspire others..
So I am still that teenager at heart, still fascinated by the process of image making, the creative and artistic side and seeing the fruits of that in the image itself. Now we have digital, everything is there for us to see in an instant, no more waiting or critical stickers except of course, the mental ones we give ourselves. Yes, photography for me is more than a hobby, through it I have discovered a world where I can find and develop my creativity and with it, peace of mind.
Julian David Hignell
