Dead end?

I was in Bakersfield yesterday, visiting my friend Shannon, and we swung by her husband Ryan’s office where he has all kinds of stuff in storage—everything from a boat to a drum set to the flag.

Copyright © 2008 Liz Kuball

I asked Ryan what meant the most to him out of everything he had there, and he said his toolbox. I took this picture of him standing with it, and though I think it’s okay, it doesn’t do anything for me, and I’m wondering why.

Copyright © 2008 Liz Kuball

I don’t think it should matter what the thing is that the person is storing, so the problem isn’t the toolbox. And I don’t think Ryan’s the problem, either. The photograph isn’t brilliant, and that’s my fault. But it goes beyond that for me. There are times when I’ve made a picture, and it’s not quite right, but I know I’m on to something. And then there are times when I’ve made a picture, and it’s not quite right, and I don’t get the feeling that I’m on to anything at all, and this is one of those times. It just looks like a guy and his toolbox. And it makes me wonder whether that’s just the way they’ll all look. Maybe the photo of the trophy that I’ve got up on my Web site is better than a photo of a person holding that trophy would be. Is it better to leave a little mystery and let the viewer imagine who owns it? I don’t know.

This was only my first photograph of a person with his stuff, and I have a few more people lined up and more planned for the summer (if I can scrape together the money to make these trips), so I’m not giving up on it by any means. I’m just not sure whether the path I’m heading down with these photographs will lead anywhere or be a dead end, and so far at least, my first few steps have been more sure.

For what it’s worth, I like the flag shot. And I also like this last one, made at a gas station on the way into town.

Copyright © 2008 Liz Kuball

Signed, sealed, delivered

Copyright © 2008 Liz Kuball

When you least expect it

Ever since my Slut post, I’ve been thinking a lot about the parallels between relationships and photography. I was e-mailing with Shawn Gust about portraiture, and he said, “I would say not to search out subjects so much, but keep your eyes open. They’ll come to you, trust me.” And in a comment on the post, Ben Huff said, “deep down, we all want to progress from being sluts into a long lasting relationship with our own beautiful style. it will come.”

Any girl who’s ever been single has heard, “The right guy will come along when you’re not even looking” or “It’ll happen for you—trust me.” The implication: You should just wait and it’ll happen, through nothing you do or don’t do.

For someone who’s neither patient nor passive, this kind of advice is bunk.

It’s not that I think Shawn and Ben are wrong; their photographs alone are proof of that. It’s just that I can’t do anything with their advice. I agree that keeping your eyes open, as Shawn advises, is critical, but most of the time I don’t know if a picture will be good until I take it. (I often know in the few seconds between the time I first look through the lens and the moment I release the shutter. But that’s long after I pull over the car.) And Ben expresses beautifully what we want as photographers, but trust isn’t innate for me, and having faith that “it will come” isn’t easy.

My answer in the years that I spent between relationships was simply to be happy on my own. But I’ll never be happy with photographs I don’t love; hence, my conundrum.

My solution: Be a photographic slut and work hard at figuring out which photos I like and why, which photos I don’t like and why, and what I can do to increase the ratio of like to dislike. In time, after making many, many pictures and really thinking about what works and what doesn’t, I think I’ll be better able to trust that it’ll come.

Get your porfolio reviewed by Conscientious

Last fall, I got an e-mail from Jörg Colberg of Conscientious, asking if I’d be interested in having him review my portfolio, as part of sort of a pilot program he was running. If people got something out of the reviews, and if he enjoyed doing them, he was thinking he might make them available for the public for a small fee; in the meantime, mum was the word. Evidently, the test was a success, because he’s made his portfolio reviews available to the public.

So what can you expect from a review from Jörg? I came away with a two-page single-spaced PDF that analyzed my work in a way I’ve never had it analyzed before. He pointed out ways in which my project statement didn’t mesh with the photos themselves, inconsistencies in my shooting style, images that are strong and those that are weak (and explained why), and specific ways I could improve my project.

Here are just some examples of what he told me about my In Store project:

The statement focuses on what might be inside the different storage units—all the personal belongings of people. On the other side, the photos mostly show anonymous storage units, with only a few of them showing some contents. I think the approach laid out in the statement is the way to go. . . . First of all, while the storage units all look completely anonymous and similar, there is no reason why that shouldn’t be the case. . . . So that makes focusing too much on the look and feel of those storage units a bit tricky—the storage units don’t surprise in that way (compare this with the anonymous, crappy motels in Alec Soth’s Niagara—you wouldn’t be surprised to find them on a highway somewhere, but at a place that is supposed to be romantic, where people get married?). . . . Thus it seems to me that the important aspect of the storage units is what might be behind the doors and locks—just as the statement says! That adds the human element, that is where things get interesting. So, yes, I think the project would benefit greatly from showing what is inside the units (just like in, e.g., image #34) and, possibly, from adding portraits of people who have stuff in storage. . . . [I had asked Jörg whether he thought the project would benefit from going in that direction.—Ed.] The exteriors of the units and their placement in the cities would then serve as the frame for the actual story.

As for the photos, there appears to be a mix of styles, and I have a bit of a problem with this. . . . I think that is very important for you at this stage of the process, namely to figure out the visual language you want to use for the project. The important aspects of figuring this out are that (1) focusing on one language will make things easier for you and (2) the series will look more homogeneous. Think of it as a book—you want people to look through the book smoothly. If you want to surprise them then it’s with what you show and not how you show it.

There’s one slight complication, which it is important to understand. Projects like In Store live from the series of photos. Each photo adds something to the whole. As a result, if taken alone many of the photos might not stand out that much. In other words, if you focus on individual images—instead of how they all work together—you might end up getting a bit frustrated. See how everything works together, and then, at the end, you can identify the images that represent the series the best, images that also work on [their] own easily and forcefully.

Especially as someone who’s not in an MFA program, I found this kind of critique invaluable. I didn’t agree with everything Jörg said in his two-page review, but in thinking about why I didn’t agree with him, I came to a greater understanding of what I’m trying to say with my photography. I’ve attended several twenty-minute in-person portfolio reviews, and though I’ve gotten something out of each experience, the level of attention that Jörg is able to provide without that time constraint puts his reviews above the rest. Plus, I had it all in writing, and I’ve been able to refer repeatedly to his comments whenever I was really struggling with something.

Definitely worth the $75/€75 he’s charging for his time. Sign up before the waiting list gets long.

Would you like some irony with that?

In what started out as a simple e-mail error, Center sent out a reminder to its e-mail list about the deadline for this year’s Project Competition and Review Santa Fe, and in the process, left its e-mail list address as part of the Reply To line. Bottom line: A well-intentioned photographer who had missed the deadline tried to reply to Center and inquire about her application, only to have her e-mail message delivered to the entire mailing list. I saw this on Friday night, deleted the message, and didn’t think much of it.

On Saturday morning, however, over a dozen photographers had replied to the reply and on and on, saying things like, “You are sending this to the wrong people” and, “For some reason I have received two e-mails from you which appear to be directed to someone else,” and “Yes, me too. Not quite sure why we’re getting all these e-mails? I worry that they are not getting to the right people.”

The most recent message, at least as of the moment I started this post (four more have come in since I started typing) said, “Please do not reply to these messages. You are just continuing the strand of e-mails.”

Oh, the irony of it all.

Victoria

Copyright © 2008 Liz Kuball

Slut

It’s occurred to me that I have spent the past month, and maybe the past year, doing the photographic equivalent of sleeping around. I have been like a teenager who’s just discovered that sex really is as good as everything off-limits ever is. I’ve photographed anything and anyone who’s come along. And I am realizing that, sure, it’s good and all, even when you’re doing it fast and with people you don’t really know, but the people I admire are more conscious of who they’re doing it with, and so they’re more able to let go and they’re having a better time. In other words, I’m beginning to think that it really is better when you’re in love.

Resolved: Limit photographic sluttery in 2008.

P.S. If you haven’t read Jörg’s excellent interview with the complete delight who is Rachael Dunville, check it out. For me it was a sermon and a “Psst, kid, you ever tried this?” all at the same time, and it confirmed the thoughts outlined in this post, which had been simmering in me for a while.

My vote

Viviana and Alyssa

Copyright © 2008 Liz Kuball