Ken Rockwell vs. Emma Goldman.

wow, was not expecting this from usually mild-mannered Ken, but seems to fit today!

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/00-new-today.htm

07 April 2009, Tuesday

Losers

Losers give up.

Losers are people who set their standards so stupidly tight that nothing is good enough for them. These are not Leica Men, who always get what they want. Losers are our friends and neighbors who set the wrong criteria for jobs, toys or lovers, and wind up with nothing instead of happiness.

I've heard too many stories of lonely girls getting way past their expiration dates because they are so picky that they want a boyfriend in only a very narrow range of age, style or income, and too many people who stay unhappily unemployed for too long because they are completely unrealistic about wanting whatever overly bloated salary they used to pull down (all while wasting their boss' time reading the internet at work), or too picky about the hours, location, type of work or whatever.

People stay unhappy when they keep thinking they're going to find perfection.

Winners get what they want. Winners set realistic expectations, and are always open to new ideas for things that don't fit in their initial expectations. Winners never give up. Winners adapt and get better. The best jobs I've ever had were those for which I initially wasn't even going to bother to interview, but decided, eh, what the heck, and checked it out!

This applies exactly the same way in photography (I knew you were wondering).

Loser photographers set out with a preconceived notion of what they want to snap. If they find it, which they probably won't, they are happy.

All too often (like every single time), what they want just doesn't happen. They shoot a crappy version of what they thought they wanted, and try to jack it up later in Photoshop.

Winners in photography keep their eyes open. Photography is all about your powers of observation, period.

All my best snaps have been completely unrelated to what I thought I was going to photograph that day. I kept my eyes open, saw something cool, and snapped it. I created the photo because I kept my eyes open to new things, never because I set out to make that photo.

When everyone else is looking for the clichée in one direction, my screwy mind is off looking in some other direction trying to sniff out cool photos.

VS.

“The idealists and visionaries, foolish enough to throw caution to the winds and express their ardor and faith in some supreme deed, have advanced mankind and have enriched the world”

Hmm.. so basically, keep trying new shit and don't let anybody stand in your way? Sounds like a plan.