How to never lose your vision,even when you are blind. part two

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.
Jonathan Swift



It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.
Helen Keller

Vision is the art of seeing the invisible. In this respect, vision is not just seeing, it is not just "sight." Instead, vision is insight. It is the ability to see something that only you can see, something that others do not see because this something does not have a physical reality. It is something you see in your mind’s eye, something that exists in your imagination, something that is within yourself.

A vision is something abstract: an idea or a concept. Vision is made real through creative work. In photography it is made real through the creation of photographs that express your vision. The goal of these photographs is to share your ideas, your concepts, in short your vision, with your audience.

A vision can come about in any field of human endeavor. In regards to photography, vision is made real through the photographs that you create. How clear your vision is, and how closely your photographs follow this vision, defines how successful you will be in conveying your vision to others.

Vision is inspiration made reality. Vision is using photography to express something otherwise invisible. Vision is making poetry with photographs. It is going beyond the technical knowledge of the medium and reaching the artistic level. It is going beyond mastery of the medium and reaching improvisation and self-expression.

Finding and expressing your vision can be a challenging process. Because your vision is something that is invisible to others, it is a process that you have to go through essentially by yourself.

Vision demands an unwavering commitment to your art. It also demands that you can back up this commitment with work because only through work will you be able to share your vision with others and thereby prove that you are truly committed to this vision.

Vision is message. It is not just creating an image but creating a story through this image. This message can be about sharing an emotion, a feeling, a belief or a particular way of looking at the world. It is not just about sharing an image with your audience. It is also about sharing the meaning of this image with your audience. This image means something to you. This image contains not just objects, people and features. It also contains ideas that represent your vision. Without vision an image is just an image. With vision an image becomes the vehicle that carries your ideas to your audience.

New images surround us everywhere.
They are invisible only because of sterile routine convention and fear.
Lisette Model

Creating a photograph faithful to your vision is similar to creating a product based on an idea, on an image in your mind. This product can be anything: software, mechanical devices, services, etc. This product will represent the outcome of your vision as long as it started as an idea that you turned into a physical reality. Ideas cannot be shared as ideas. They have to be translated into something else first. This “something” is the vehicle used to deliver your idea –your vision-- to your audience.

The simplest way of doing so is to put your idea into words in order to explain to others, either orally or in writing, what this idea consists of. This is what a description, an essay, a short story, a novel or any other piece of writing –be it fiction or non-fiction—is. A photograph can also be used as the vehicle for an idea if the photograph is used to describe this idea. In the same way, anything created on the basis of an idea that was turned into a physical reality qualifies as being a vision made reality. If this process does not take place your vision will remain an abstract concept, a dream that exists only in our head.

So what do you need to do this? For one, you must have a vision, an idea. This is something that only you can do. For some, this comes naturally. For others, it is something that requires work and, sometimes, soul-searching if you will.

I cannot give you this idea. No one can. It is something that you have to come up with. What I can do is help you find the way to this vision then help you turn your vision into reality. This is what we are going to explore in the next sections.

To create one's world in any of the arts takes courage.

Georgia O'Keefe

In a way, and to continue the discussion started , your audience seeks to admire and acquire objects that have a soul. Rationally speaking, objects, including works of art, do not have a soul. They are not alive; they do not breathe and are not made of living cells. They do not think, and thus, from a Cartesian perspective, they are not able to invent themselves. Irrationally speaking, however, works of art can be perceived as having a soul. This soul, if present, is imbued into the work of art by the transfer of the artists’ personality and passion into his artwork. This soul is brought about by the care and the craftsmanship used to create the work. This soul is present in the artwork because a part of the artist’s soul was transferred into the work during its creation.

This soul is the personality of the artist. It is the demonstration of personal choices and the decision to implement a personal idea rather than other people’s ideas. In a way, what surprises us and even shocks us when we encounter a work of art for the first time, is the implementation of the artist’s vision through the demonstration of this artist’s style, ideas and personality.

What shocks us is that the choices made by a specific artist are radically different from the choices we saw other people make in regards to the same subject. What shocks us is the unabashed display of this artist’s personality through his or her work. What shocks us is to see something depicted in a way that we have never seen before, a way that we know we will only see in this artist’s work, unless of course someone copies it, but then it would be nothing more than a copy and not an original work of art.

The outcome of vision implemented in a work of art is a new and different way of looking at the world. It is the creation of a new reality, of a new world. It is in this world that the artist invites his audience. It is in the reality created by the artist that the audience is asked to step in. Once inside, the audience is shown the specifics of this world, the details if you will.

The experience, if successful, is complete and will leave the audience speechless and asking for more while seeking to retract in a more familiar environment only to find that, once there, something is lacking. Only to find that, once the door offered by the artist has been pushed wide open, one wants to experience more and more of the world revealed behind this door. Only to find that this world, while not “reality,” is a world one wants to live in. If this indeed occurs, if this door is pushed then left open by the audience for future or not so future visits, then the artist has succeeded not only in creating a world, but also in creating a world that his audience is enthralled with. Passion has flowed from the artist towards his audience. Excitement has been shared, and now the desire to experience this world is shared by both the artist and his audience.

In a way, one could say that the trademark of cutting-edge art is to defy convention. This is somewhat implied when one’s stated goal is the creation of a new reality, of a new way of representing, creating or thinking about specific things. By definition, such an approach demands that one is familiar with the conventional ways of representing, creating, or thinking about these things and that one decides to depart from these conventions. By doing so, the artist becomes unconventional. The artist breaks conventions to achieve the embodiment of his vision.

In doing so a number of people are going to be unhappy with the result. Those are the people who like convention, who find it pleasing, satisfying and to their taste. Those are the people that see nothing wrong with convention and who find alternate realities more problematic than advantageous.

On the other hand, a number of people are going to find the unconventional approach a welcome respite from the conventional. Those are the people who find the conventional unsatisfying, boring to some extent, commonplace maybe, and definitely not satisfying to them and not fulfilling of their needs. These people seek something else. They seek a different view of the world, a different approach, a different definition of the products, artwork and ways of thinking that they are interested in. In other words, they are not only ready for an unconventional approach: they are looking for it. These people are your audience.



The true tragedy in life is not deathbut that which dies inside of us while we are still living.

Norman Cousins

The conclusion to the previous section is that you will not find your vision by attempting to photograph or work with a subject that is not yours. And, as an extension of this fact, you will not express the fullness of your vision working with a subject that you do not love or that you are not excited about. You must be photographing what you love and what you are passionate about for your vision to fully express itself and become a reality.

There is a difference between liking something and loving something. For example, I like to photograph sports cars. However, I do not have a burning passion for sports car photography. The interest is there because I like sports cars, not because I want to express a personal photographic vision regarding the cars. For me, the problem is that a car is not something that I can modify at will. A car is more the mark of its manufacturer than the mark of the photographer who takes a picture of it. Eventually, for me the subject becomes repetitive. There are only so many headlights, fenders, emblems, engines, body shapes, side panels and the like that I can photograph until they become a blur of similar subjects and I become bored working with them. In the end, I prefer driving them more than photographing them.

I am sure a car photographer who truly loves this subject will disagree with me and find just as many positive reasons to photograph cars as I have listed reasons not to photograph cars. If such is your situation just know that I applaud you. I applaud you because you truly love what you do and you will not let someone else’s opinion of your favorite subject change your mind.

Such is the case for me with landscape photography. I have not tired of doing landscape photography since I started in 1980. In fact, I have not tired of admiring the landscape since the day I was born, or rather since the day I was able to understand what nature is, whenever that happened. To me the landscape is never the same. The seasons, the time of day, the variations of light, weather and other natural conditions mean that the same exact situation cannot happen again. It also means that even though I spend a lot of time outdoors, I am unlikely to witness the same event several times. Each day, each new instance of a natural event, is unique.

Furthermore, I find that the possibilities for personal expression in landscape photography are equally endless. Each new idea, each new camera, each new improvement in equipment, each new piece of software, each new location, and each new visit to a previously visited location means that a new level of artistic achievement can be reached if one puts-in the required amount of time and effort. These new tools, these new visits to places that I love, when combined with my passion for the landscape generate new ideas that in turn bring renewed inspiration. I have not tired of this subject since I started working with it, and I doubt I will tire of it in the future. For me, this is what I love to do, and because of this passion my vision for the landscape is the clearest of any of the subjects I have worked with so far.
Skill Enhancement Exercises

A - Describe your vision in writing or in an audio recording.

Think of this exercise as exploratory writing. Approach it as a brainstorming session.

Keep in mind that no one else but you will see this writing or hear this recording. You do not have to share it with anyone unless you wish to.

Write down as many ideas and as many things about your vision as they come to you. Don’t edit, don’t erase, and don’t correct typos. This is not a PhD dissertation. This is just to help you find out where you want to go with your work.

There is no right or wrong. You can sort things out after you are done. Do not stop writing until you have written everything you want to write.

I recommend you do this exercise in a place where no distractions will occur. Make sure to turn off the phone, the entrance bell, etc. so that you won’t be disrupted in any way.

B – Describe the kind of photographs you’ve always wanted to create then describe the photographs you are currently creating.

Is there a difference between the two? If yes describe what this difference is.

Try emulating some well-known photographers' styles. Take their style apart and describe each of them. List their main characteristics, what strikes you as important and so on. The subject is not as important a style characteristic as you might think. A Van Gogh self-portrait and a Van Gogh landscape are immediately recognizable as two pictures done in the same style and by the same artist. Look at your favorite photographs, posters and paintings by others. Try to determine what characteristics make them unique.

C - Visualize the entire field of photography.

Imagine you are looking at it from 10,000 feet above the earth

Visualize the different areas of photography: wedding, news, reportage, fine art, product, studio, sports, etc. See where you are and where you want to be. Now narrow your vision to this one area.

See if there is a category that does not exist. If so, create it and give it a name.

The goal is to find out where you currently are in photography, and to find out if this is where you should be or if there is another place where you’d like to be more.

Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they originated.

Emerson

As an artist your heart must be into your work. When it comes to developing your vision, this vision must reflect what is in your heart. One thing that I learned many years ago is that it is not possible to make good art if your heart is not in it. Even if you try to do so your audience eventually will see that you are not totally involved and people will eventually distance themselves from your work as a result.

I remember a story told to me by a friend who was a musician and who, a number of years ago, was involved in a dance music project. Two groups of people were involved: musicians who did not know the dance scene very well and DJs who knew the dance scene but were not musicians. Eventually, when the piece was completed, they met with the recording company, which as it turned out was a major record label, and played the demo tape. The record label representative said he liked the demo but that it wasn’t for them. Then he asked, “Your heart is not in this is it?” My friend said it wasn’t, that they were doing this mainly for the money. The producer then said: “come back when you have something you really care about.” The project did not go any further. This was not their vision, their heart wasn’t in it, and they did not have the necessary motivation to go any further.

Art only works if your heart is in it and if you really care about what you do. Art is successful when it demonstrates your passion, your personality and your vision. If you are not passionate about your work, if your heart is not in it, your audience will be able to tell.

For your vision to be unique it has to be implemented through a style unique to you, a personal style.

I could not have done better but this is far from my work. I use this daily and read this weekly. I thanks the author Alain Briot of Arziona. The web site for further information on your vision is

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/developing-vision.shtml