We struggle to figure out what it is we are trying to do or say with our work. Until we figure out. Its a weird place to be back to. I was very comfortable in Philadelphia. I knew what I wanted to do with Temperance. I knew my home and that room, and almost every angle that I could shoot, where to put the light I knew what I wanted to say, and how to make photos that said it.
But with comfort comes a reluctance or at least a struggle against repetition. I never want my work to become a caricature of itself. This meant lots of small changes with Temperance, and as many thematic risks as I could take, and still enjoy the results, and eventually it meant ending the series.
Starting from a blank canvas.
When I look back at the earliest shoots for that series I can see the same confusion, and feelings I'm feeling now. I'm not sure where I want to go, and what I want to do next in the vein of eroticism. I'm sort of sure how I want to edit, but I'm not even sure if this is a series I want to pursue as fervently.
I've found a lot of joy in shooting Ask the Dust, Into the Wild, Fauna, We Were Wanderers. I've even been finding joy in just shooting simple portrait work lately.
With this mini-series I feel less confident, and I think that is good. Together I guess we will see if with more shooting I gain a little more confidence, or if this is just a short series where we create some beautiful photos. I'm incredibly lucky to have so many friends willing to come by and let me test out ideas knowing that it might not be the same as what people expect when we shoot.