I finally went through my proof sheets for 2018 and spent some serious time in the darkroom during Christmas week. It was a great time to do this as pretty much anyone I deal with in my working life takes off just before Christmas and doesn’t return to their offices until after the New Year.
All of this activity got me thinking about the number of photographs I make, the amount that I select for printing, and the final number that survive. It turns out to be somewhat of a process. The truth is that I don’t go through a lot of film because I am pretty selective in what I want to photograph. If I’m not really attracted to what I am seeing I simply don’t push the shutter release. I am even more selective when it comes to looking at my proof sheets when determining those images I wish to print. I study them under the magnifier, and if I see something I like I take a red Sharpie and draw a frame around the image. If necessary I indicate where cropping is required. Sometimes after further inspection I may decide that some of the frames I previously selected aren’t that exciting after all. And even if printed, there is a chance that after further evaluation the print will have to be modified for some reason, or it may just get tossed because in the end the picture really wasn’t that good.
In earlier postings I pointed out that Ansel Adams said, “Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.” And John Sexton said, “I find the single most valuable tool in the darkroom is my trash can – that’s where most of my prints end up.”
Think about these two statements for a while. I have.
Maybe my approach is not what works for others, but I really believe that the key to stronger work is setting a high standard and maintaining it. That means being highly selective in what we see and print, and finally in what we chose to preserve.
I identified a number of pictures from 2018 that I had not printed during the year. My hit rate was below 10% and who knows what the final number of survivors will be once they all make it out of the darkroom. But I am satisfied with those numbers, because I have some meaningful images I am excited about. I have also gone back through my older proof sheets again and identified many pictures I will be printing for the first time. I made a good start on the 2018s this past week, but I will be pretty busy this coming year and beyond!
Have a great 2019, photographically and may your hit rate be good.
Best wishes,
Michael
Interesting post and echoes my own experience. The most significant thing I’ve learned from photography isn’t about composition, exposure etc. but it is how to deal with failure – something that I haven’t traditionally found easy.
I’ll add to your list of quotes one by Alex Webb:
“This kind of work is 99.9 per cent failure. A huge amount of stuff gets thrown out”.
And another by Raymond Moore:
“If I was asked I’d end up with about six. Most photographs are, to some degree or other, failures.”
I’ve read or heard similar sentiments from many other respected photographers.
Like you, I don’t take a ton of photographs. Shooting film seems to encourage me to slow down and really consider whether or not a photograph is worth taking before pressing the shutter release – oftentimes I’ll look through the viewfinder, think about the shot objectively and simply walk away. Although this has resulted in a decent hit rate (in my humble opinion, of course), it is still the case that
a good number of my photographs are never printed or otherwise shared publicly because I don’t believe that they’re good enough.
Another thing I’ve learned from my own experience (and also echoed by many well-known photographers, including Henry Wessel and Robert Adams) is to wait for some time before attempting to judge a photo. It is often the case that the pleasurable experience of taking a photo leads me to falsely believe that the photo is a good one. Time tends to erase my memory of the photo-taking experience and allows me to be more objective.
Andrew,
Happy New Year and thanks for your very thoughtful response! What you say about your own working methods and the quotes from other photographers you provided is extremely valuable!
Making good photographs and doing a good job printing them is not easy work. As you know the tools we use are fairly primitive when compared to those found in the digital realm. Weird shaped pieces of mat board or mat board cut with holes for burning, a piece of tape stuck onto translucent fishing line tied to a wire coat hanger for dodging are a few. Then if you really care there are the many mistakes and also rans. As I have stated before, one of the most valuable tools I have is the strip of molding on my workroom wall that lets me study finished prints under the same light I have in my darkroom for viewing wet prints. Well, afters several days of looking I painfully recognized that several prints I made over the holiday were too dark. Bad judgement on my part! It happens. So back in the darkroom today doing them over again! They’re drying now on screens and I expect they will be fine when I look at them in the morning.
We just have to struggle to do the best we can and reject that which is not good enough. One of the things I hate the most is when a student says “I should have done this better” or “I should have cropped this here” or “I don’t like the contrast”, etc. So why did you bother to bring it in to show me or worse show to others who won’t tell you the truth or don’t know better?
Good for you. I have seen your photographs on your website. Keep working hard and stay critical of what you produce. As you know, it all pays off in the end.
Best,
Michael