David Alan Harvey on editorial assignments

On the subject of editorial assignments, David Alan Harvey has an excellent post today that gets to the heart of what’s running through a photographer’s mind in anticipation of such projects. (Click here to read it.)

I think a critical part of doing editorial work (or commissioned work of any kind) must be not just asking all those questions he raises—How will I do this? Will I do my best work? Will I satisfy myself?—but thriving on those questions and the unknown answers. I can’t imagine you could really enjoy the work if you didn’t also enjoy all the questioning that happens before you even leave for the airport.

For what it’s worth, I also think those questions are the ones that good photographers ask themselves when they’re doing their own personal projects. Because, in the end, whether the assignment is one you’ve given yourself, or it’s one you’ve been given by someone else, if you accept it, it’s personal.