So forget about a fancy blog template. Minimalism is a good aesthetic. It says, "I shall only use what is necessary and neither waste not or want not." I am trying to apply that to both my personal life and my art. Eat only enough to survive, don't buy anything arbitrary, use whatever you have to make something great. I remember when I worked at a camera store, renting out $10,000 worth of equipment a pop to pros who made work with no life to it. The lighting was so immaculate it felt untouchable. Sometimes I wonder what kind of cool thing I could do if I had 3 profoto heads and a portable power pack, wind machine and generator, California Sun Bounce... and the answer is probably nothing much. 75% of my time would be spent fighting the equipment and 25% would be shooting something that would have to make enough money to pay for the equipment rental, i.e. nothing I really want to shoot. I look at JPG Magazine and how phenomenal their images are, pretty much all bare bones kind of stuff but with love and creativity pouring out of it, totally inspiring, and I look at PDN and I can see the dollar signs and production values and leave feeling inadequate.
Anyways this week has more models and more unusual scenarios than I've ever had. A Disney pinup and projected microscopic fibers on the side of a building and Pop Art Noveau mashup shot from my roof and 4x5 diptychs shot in a ruin. Then there is the girl who I am photographing in a minimaze with a trampoline I am going to purchase before the shoot and return immediately after. Who knows, I may end up hating all of it and going back and doing clean headshots like this one, but after a couple months of shooting models I think it is time for some more elaborate and experimental kinds of art. To put it in U2 terminology, it's going from "War" to "Zooropa" in 2 days.
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