I see a lot of tweets from other photographers that can, more or less, be dumbed down to one photographer throwing out an authoritative command of “be original guys!!!” I have to say, I think this mindset is problematic. Not only can it come across a bit arrogant, it also seems to be the wrong thing to focus on or care about when it comes to creating beautiful imagery. As always, C.S. Lewis focuses on the matter like a laser beam…
“Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.” C.S. Lewis
Originality, as it’s commonly spoken of in photography (or maybe the arts, in general), often carries with it a kind of arrogance that is hard for me to stomach. Much like opening the fridge and quickly realizing that the bag of chicken that somehow disappeared behind the cranberry juice is no longer edible. Sincerity, as I see it, is a far greater thing to strive for when finding or creating great art (along with a drive for excellence, of course). A healthy belief that nearly everything has been done before can lift a giant burden off the shoulders of many photographers. Instead of wondering “but does this push the envelope?” or fretting “has this been done before?!“, I rather do (or shoot) what I feel I will love. What I believe will look beautiful in a frame on someone’s wall. What I’ll enjoy showing others. What I think my kids will be inspired by when they come of age to enjoy such things. Does it end up looking shockingly original? I don’t know. Has some one else done it before? I’m sure they have. And, to put it bluntly, I really don’t give a damn.
Since so many photographers are enslaved to the idea of originality, I assume that many of them can sense that I don’t care about originality anymore than I do about taking the trash out midweek (our trash goes out Friday so I certainly don’t care about it on Tuesday) — and I imagine those photographers wonder “what the hell is wrong with this guy!?” But you know what? At the end of the day, I just don’t care if my images are original. I don’t. I genuinely never have. And I firmly believe that that is the better approach to take. That originality is, as C.S. Lewis states, related to sincerity — and almost directly/equally related to ignoring the drive for (acknowledged) originality. It’s like striving to make someone respect you — you aren’t going to get what you want with that approach.
It’s my hunch that Michaelangelo didn’t dream up the Pieta in the hunt after originality. Neither did Chopin create his Étude No.3 in E. I hope it’s clear that I don’t say such things because I believe originality to be a negative. Quite the opposite. Original art — often times when accompanied by excellence — can thoroughly enrich our lives. I simply have my belief that chasing after originality is not the key to catching it. On the contrary, it’s the key to catching something else altogether (a naive belief that you have done something before anyone else). But originality isn’t a ball, we aren’t dogs, and the game isn’t fetch.
Originality, as I see it, is a byproduct of sincere art. Not all of it, necessarily. But much of it. Similarly, art striving to be original is going to struggle with sincerity — as sincerity was never the end goal. In my opinion, that is a sad thing (as I believe art moves us so because of its beauty — and not its originality).
So if you’re a photographer, and you have a knack for creating things outside the box. Great! Keep it up. But if this is making some sense, and you, at times, feel bullied into being “more original“, then it’s okay to accept that you might not be the most original artist that ever walked the face of the earth — and that you don’t need to be in order to create beautiful imagery. Do what is genuine. What is sincere. You might not achieve notable originality with every exposure you create, but you’ll achieve something sincere. And my hunch is that you won’t achieve much originality without the intent to be sincere. In other words, worrying about originality isn’t going to help — so don’t bother. Believe me, it’s very liberating.
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Now to (hopefully) make this post less boring, here are some of my favorite images that were created without a shred of respect being paid to originality…
Anyone care to chime in?
Bobby
by Bobby Earle
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