Kjell has an interesting post on projects. I like the analogies he draws about walking a trench and chasing butterflies. I wondered, though, if this way of looking at projects stemmed from the way in which one is used to working on projects.
For many, a project is a full-time effort, the single goal of the moment. That would certainly lead to the trench mentality and it is certainly a way of working that I dislike. However, I am very much used to working on many projects simultaneously, with different goals and time-frames. This leaves a certain degree of flexibility on working and creativity. I approiach my photographic projects in the same way: time-lines determined by the subject matter, applying myself to each as and when it feels appropriate. In the actual photographing part I rarely have deadlines, but apply them ffairly ruthlessly too my post-processing (to motivate me to complete).
As with Kjell's observations, this is purely personal and a different perspective on the same idea.
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Multiple-track thinking
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Hi Martin.
ReplyDeleteI too spend much of my days working on several parallel projects, but I only find the flexibility to be modest. It is only more trenches that I can switch between.
Anyway, I think, from reading your blog for a couple of years, and spending a full day getting lost in the forest with you, that we have a very similar approach to photography. I too set deadlines on my post processing from time to time to actually finish something.