During the first week of January I got a call from my agent that a long-time client had to cancel an upcoming, several weeks production due to Covid. Of course it was a rather big blow at first and it was a fun job to shoot with people that I dearly miss.
Although there was limited creative freedom it was always a big pleasure to get back home after an exhausting couple of days, have a few moments of rest and start to work on the pictures.
I needed a couple of days to shake off the dust. To be honest, after all this years working as a photographer, every setback feels new and unknown, incomparable to obstacles in the past. Although I trust myself enough to get back to the drawing board it takes a while to assess and reconsider.
My usual strategy, although not consistently implemented over the years, to get out of a rut is that I start conceptualizing personal passion projects, write people that I’ve always wanted to work with and dive deeper into my photographic process.
I read and write a lot. Leaning into the discomfort of coming up with ideas, trying to overcome the fear of rejection. Most of the time the first burst of energy gets overwritten by daily life, jobs and other distractions. But if you are able to implement even the smallest pieces of this process without overwhelming yourself or the people around you, you form a habit of constantly questioning your status quo. Everything you do is productive, there is no such thing as waste of time. Every experiment, every failure.
It’s easier for me personally to take small steps, smaller projects, single scenes and portraits, sketchbooks that eventually lead to something bigger or just pay into the bank of sharpening my tools for everything to eventually come or not. Your approach might be different.
But the underlying truth is to form habits that help building a long-term trajectory, the little things in your work that add up over time, that catch your curiosity and let you research more deeply and ask the right questions.
This newsletter mainly exists to document the thought process and the execution of ideas thoroughly, some ideas might pop up and disappear suddenly, some might stick. I’ll keep you posted!
— Ramon
I think curiosity is the most dangerous yet beautiful thing we have. It allows us explore things that we normally don't which can lead to unfamiliar but exciting results. It's one of the biggest things I hope people remind themselves to be: curious - Alexandra Leese on Viewfinder
Makes me immediately think of the W.H Murray/Goethe quote...
'Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!”
― W.H. Murray
Have taken this one many times into new adventures with me.
Peace.