Project thinking

From Paradise Lost – the former forefront of military hardware in old age and thinking about better days

It is quite common to hear a photographer or artist talking about work on ‘x project’ or ‘y project’ – in practical terms, it means that images are being made to fulfil a certain objective or idea. For the longest time I’d stayed away from doing this because I felt frustrated at the limitations it would impose at the least expected of times. I also didn’t feel that I had the time to commit to pursuit of a single idea. But at some point in 2013, that all changed for me for various reasons. Outside commercial work, I now find myself working in a few major themes.

From The Disorientation of Night – when false colours and odd shadows confuse us and make things other than what they seem during daytime

I think thinking in terms of projects is useful at two stages in one’s creative evolution: 2 and 4. In the very early stages, it’s necessary to impose some constraints to build the discipline of curation: you can, and want to take photographs of everything, but not all of them will ‘work’. By imposing a simple limitation around theme or subject, a photographer is forced to more extensively explore that theme before moving on. This fosters creativity, assuming you have some degree of discipline: once you run out of ‘common’ angles and perspectives, you have to find new ones.

One of two things can happen now: the photographer stays in stage 2, and lands up doing the same with other subjects; or the photographer develops their skill set and moves to stage 3. Recall this is the point at which they have enough control to actually produce the intended images; the only way to develop that skill is shoot, and shoot plenty. Experimentation is critical to development because it establishes boundaries and workflow and an understanding of the limitations of one’s own ability and one’s own equipment. Stage 3 is initially more about developing technique and control than creativity; without it, it’s impossible to express one’s ideas fully. It therefore doesn’t make so much sense to impose the curative limitations of a project until 3b or 4.

From Only The Clouds Are Truly Free – a tribute to wistfulness, escapism, and the green grass on the other side (or sky)

Stage 4 photographers have the opposite problem: no issues whatsoever with execution, but a problem of what to execute: if you can see the world with subject-independence and decomposed into pure color and shape, there are almost too many photographic opportunities to work with. The result is a bit of everything and a lack of focus. Conversely, it’s also possible to be quite jaded after 3b: it’s easy to fall into the trap of making the same kinds of images you’ve made before, even when you are consciously trying to avoid it. I have the same problem occasionally: after framing up, I’ll realise that I’ve made an image with identical structure (and sometimes even identical subjects, if there is a long interval between viewings) to one or several I’ve made before.

Forest IV – a large Ultraprint series using the transparency of resolution to challenge the boundaries between image and reality and place the viewer in the forest

There are two choices at this point: keep going, and make similar images, or try to compose differently. The latter is much more difficult, and may easily result in no image at all. The former only makes sense if there is something unique about the new image that is not in some way already represented by the previous ones. If it sounds like the beginnings of a project, that’s because it is: but in reverse to the conventional order. Instead of starting with an idea before shooting, we are curating an idea from the material already shot – or properly recognising one that was up to this point present only in our subconscious.

The curation proces plays a critical role in execution of a successful project: one needs not just a clear definition of the underlying theme or idea behind a project, but also the ability to objectively assess whether or not an image conveys the intended ideas. Sometimes, this may not be evident until well after the normal workflow has ended. The challenge of curation is always trying to balance objectivity and emotional involvement: if one is too close to the action, it is difficult to select a strong set that isn’t heavily personally biased. If one is too objective, the personality may disappear.

From Dreamscape – clouds are like daydreams

Though it may appear that longevity of an image is a greater consideration for ‘serious’ work, I’d actually argue that it is a consequence of such tight curation rather than a prerequisite. Work that is not thoroughly vetted cannot last because the additional audience and detachment brought on by time will result in more of the work’s flaws being exposed. As always, the best form of curation is both to firstly decide if the images are worthy of being printed, then leaving them hung on a wall (a real luxury of space) for a long time – I’ve personally seen my preference shift away from the ones of immediate impact (but less encouraging of contemplation) after just a few weeks.

From The Idea of Man – observations on human nature

Each image used to illustrate this essay are from personal projects that I’ve been developing mostly for several years. In some cases, the projects were developed from ideas that were seen in the field and then ‘stuck’ some time later – The Idea of Man, Verticality and Dreamscape are of this category. Others were conceived first and then executed – Forest and Paradise Lost. Others still are in the infant stage – Only The Clouds Are Truly Free for instance – they are impossible to stage and suitable conditions are so fleeting that I may make one image a year. However, having the ideas circulating when I shoot makes my mind consciously aware and looking out for them in the field – even if I happen to be shooting something else at the time.

Given the long gestation period of some projects, it makes sense to show an image or two along the way to gauge audience reaction – and to see if you have missed something that might make for a stronger image. I wouldn’t show the whole set piecemeal because that obvious diminishes the impact of the series when you do eventually exhibit or present, not to mention potential value to galleries or buyers. This brings me to another important consideration: the images should have a presentation mode already clear before you start shooting. For obvious reasons, if the output is not considered – you may well lack the type of material you need (e.g. web showing is very different from large print). There is a difference betweens the photoessays I present on this site (I would consider these mini-projects) and the kind of thing I pitch to galleries.

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Verticality XLV – intended to be exhibited large and above head height to retain the feeling of individual insignificance against what man built

I actually think the toughest part of project work is knowing when to say ‘it’s done’. There is a point where there are enough images to make a presentation with a strongly coherent theme and outlook, there is a point when you have captured all you think you need to fully embody the idea (if that exists for your given project) and there is a point beyond which you cannot shoot anymore – you’re tapped out. I think working til the last level is both difficult and not recommended; the second cut point is difficult because I don’t think there’s a clear line for most projects that do not have fixed shot lists, and the first limit is probably the bare minimum. I doubt I will ever reach even the second limit for my own projects; my restrictions are very much time and budget dictated. But I suppose that’s one of the positive things about photography in a nutshell: the limits are whatever you choose to set. MT

Curation is covered in further detail as part of Photoshop Workflow II.

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Ultraprints from this series are available on request here

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