A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the importance of setting goals, sticking to them and striving to complete theme-based projects. In particular I spoke about how this approach works out for my students taking my class, Planning and Creating a Photographic Project.  I’ve touched on this in other postings as well, so you can guess I think this is pretty important.

I’ve also mentioned Fred Picker a couple of times. I was an avid reader of his newsletters. From them I learned quite a bit about the craft of photography and about the man himself. So it only makes sense to quote from Fred. What he wrote is particularly instructive and one of the best pieces put together on the subject.  I read it to my students at the beginning of each semester because it’s as relevant today as when it was first written. This from his Newsletter #17, April 1978:

“At workshops we stress the importance of working towards a goal at all times… Design a project for yourself. You might assume that you have a show coming up. Choose a theme. Set a definite date. Decide that the show requires a specific number of prints (all to be new work) that you can realistically expect to complete in that period of time. Ten to twenty-five, I’d say but pick an achievable number and write and the date of the show on your darkroom wall.

“Go to work. If, on the projected date, you have the prints well made, toned, spotted, mounted, and sequenced, you will have accomplished and learned a great deal.”

“Edit ruthlessly. If a picture is weak, pull it. If a print can be improved in the slightest degree, remake it.”

“Now you have a representative portfolio.  Put it in a solon case with slip sheets between the prints, make an appointment, and visit a gallery. You just might get a date for a real show. If not, you at least have a nice portfolio and that’s a lot better than a Polycontrast box stuffed with wrinkled prints and surrounded by explanations. More importantly, you have created a coordinated body of work against the background of a deadline. You will have learned much in the process.”

“Don’t be upset by rejection. Considering some of the stuff accepted today, rejection could be a compliment. And it doesn’t matter; doing it is what matters.  Alexander Calder said, ‘I have developed an attitude of indifference to the reception of my work which allows me to go about my business.’”

“Follow through anyway. Hang the show in your living room, at the local High School, the ‘Y’, anywhere. My first one-man show was in a movie lobby and that was not a bad thing. Thousands of people saw it and I learned a lot and felt good about it. Seeing a body of your work together is a very worthwhile learning experience. Patterns can appear with embarrassing clarity or with indications of direction to explore. Single photographs can be turning points; three or four I’ve made have influenced all the work that followed.  Your pictures, if made with direction and seriousness of purpose, can teach you if you will assemble them and spend time with them.”

So there you have it. It’s springtime and a wonderful time to be making photographs. Think about what Fred said. If you’ve been sitting on the fence, now is the time to hop off it and do something you will forever be grateful for