The Demanding Mistress

Gone. This summer has seen two of the first photo blogs i ever followed fold. In both cases the authors had run out of creative steam so their blogs had ended with a last post. Both photo bloggers also used the phrase 'experiment' when talking about their blogs final end. For something termed an experiment, they had certainly managed to collect quite a following. Both bloggers seemed troubled and looking for new direction.

The ironic thing is that i didn't much like either photographers work. Some photographs stood out among others, but generally speaking a lot of their work i regarded as not technically very good. Dull.. So why did i subscribe to their blogs? The writing and enthusiasm for the subject. Plain and simple. I admit here that I'm not the greatest of writers but hopefully my enthusiasm compensates for that fact. Enthusiasm for a topic can, however, come and go like the tide, especially if the person is going through a torrid period. Many photographers have, indeed, talked about photography being like a love affair with all the ups and downs associated with those emotions.

Photography can be a demanding mistress though. I've always thought that photography is more addictive than the most potent drug. Once you are bitten, well that is it my friend. No antidote. It is a pastime/profession that we get very emotionally involved with. We ARE photographers to our very core. Our very being. That said, sometimes passion just isn't enough. A few weeks ago, a friend of mine posted on his blog how his love of all things movies had gone, burnt out by the rough time he'd had on the set of his first film. I knew exactly how he felt.

In mid 1998, I left university creatively burnt out. Photography.... bah! I'd had the stuffing knocked out of me, partly due to my own mistakes, but also (with hindsight) because I'd chosen the wrong university course. My confidence as a photographer was at rock bottom, as was my interest in the subject. My love for photography returned gradually, slowly at first and then with increasing speed. Bad times are  part of the course, part of the development as a creative person. The key is to overcome and learn from it.

As for closing blogs, well my advice would be think twice about it. Rest it, mothball it, or crate it up and put it in that warehouse that's at the end of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. Ignore it even, but don't delete it. You never know what tools might be needed to come to the rescue and help restart the love affair.