Paradigm: ˈ/perəˌdīm/; noun
A typical example or pattern of something; a model or archetype
It was dark all around me. The subject was a handsome guy. His appearance obscured to me. All I could tell was his short black hair and white v-neck. Holding my camera to my face I squinted my right eye to get a better look through the view finder. My index finger hovered gently over the shutter waiting for the perfect composition. Once I saw it, my finger pressed the button, but nothing happened. Instead my lens began to disintegrate. Slowly I could see the hard coating material fall apart, piece by piece, on to the floor. Anxiously I reached for the broken pieces in an attempt to put my lens back together and shoot again. Unfortunately, the more I tried to assemble it the more it broke apart.
I woke up to heavy breathing and sweat down my neck. The clock glowed 3:45 am and among the pitch blackness I could witness the frantic feeling plastered on my face. It was all a dream or more a nightmare. What did it all mean? Was I meant to do photography? Was I shooting the right subjects? Am I going down the right path or I am failing? Laying on my bed while looking up at the ceiling, I had so many questions that needed answering.
The sequence of events daunted me. No distraction was big enough to take my attention from the replay of my lens breaking in my head. In an attempt to make sense of things, I reached out to a professor from college. Maybe she could give me a different outlook into the situation. Indeed, she did. Our Skype meeting was short, but what was spoken became one of the most valuable conversations I have exchanged with someone.
“Life is what you are willing to compromise and what you are not. It is as simple as that,” she uttered though a grainy image on my computer screen. She had a point. I have found through the course of life we seem to sacrifice what we love doing for a more conventional and secured path. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the desire to have certainty, but it appears that the passions that nurture us and give us joy pay the price. They keep our light on and our energies lifted and yet we more than likely put them in the back burner. Why?
I love to create bodies of photographic work with a concept and exhibit them in a gallery environment. Traveling and capturing the beauty and essence of different cultures fills me with joy. I find happiness in writing meaningful articles with the intention of transmitting a positive message about the world. I marvel in being the observant of light and documenting it in delicate ways. Yet, I was doing none of the above. I was not integrating any of those aspects in my present work. Instead, I struggled to morph my work into what every other photographer in the commercial world presented to the masses. In trying to fit in I was losing my authenticity.
My professor mentioned that there is a difference between craft and art. Through her eyes a craft is based on expectation, for consumption, and it it is often requested. Art has intention. It is far from formulaic and lays somewhere between intuition and documentation. So whatever your art is be the maker of it. Don’t live between two separate worlds divided between commercial and fine art. Merge the two and find a way to express yourself. Experiment until you find your personal style and then articulate your voice. Worry less about looking like every body else. Walk your own path and on that road push your skills as far as you can. Fruition a body of work that is clearly defined with intention.
In other words, be unconventional without being shackled by the paradigm. Think critically and aim to connect at a deeper level. Put yourself in circumstances that you cannot control and be a divergent thinker.
Through your work , no matter what it is, give people the opportunity to celebrate themselves in a way they have never done before. Provide transformation and healing. Ask yourself: “How can I use my life’s purpose for good?” Remember, the creative process is both selfish and selfless. Selfish because you are creating for yourself and selfless because you are some how sharing it with someone else. Hence the statement: “Be outside the paradigm while being in it.”
Make it count!
~M
