Two advertising agency creatives were sitting at a downtown coffee shop having some sort of espresso drinks and I overheard them talking about business. Now, it's no secret that the advertising business is going through as big or bigger a meltdown than even the photography business so I leaned over a bit and concentrated. I wanted to hear how they deal with the slow down and the slow pay and the slow etc. Quick into the conversation it became obvious that their agencies had lost some pitches and things were.....tense in the respective offices. Finally one of the guys says, "We should both ditch our jobs and start our own ad agency." The other guy takes a long drink of coffee, gives the other guy the "are you insane" look and then says, "There a ton of agencies. We don't need to open another one. Someone needs to open some new clients!"
The above vignette has very little and a lot to do with the blog below...
The above vignette has very little and a lot to do with the blog below...
Kids playing on the Square in Sienna.
Wow! If you're really freaked out about the economy and the state of the world and you feel a bit paralyzed and helpless I suggest that you stop drinking coffee for a while. You may find that half the panic is self inflicted..... You are also less likely to spill hot beverages into your lap while driving, or, onto your laptop while contemplating the fall of civilization.
I just got it today. The realization that we have no machine that will allow us to freeze our cultural evolution at a point where it works optimally for me. I now understand that we're never going back to the "old days" even though the old days never really existed except as a fluid interpretation in our own minds. Were we richer then or did we care less?
I read something in a book over the weekend. It said (and you've heard it before) "the past is like the wake of a boat. It trails out of view, never to return. As to the future? One step ahead and all is blackness. We have only now." In a way this flurry of images from Italy is a purge of the past. I'm showing them and then archiving the prints. Because if you are busy tending the work of the past you don't have the bandwidth to create here and now. I'll show some of my favorites over then next few weeks and then get back to work on my own stuff. In a new way. With new understanding and new insights.
One of the insights is the need to be flexible. To bend and try new stuff. To embrace fun and stop digging in my heels, trying to make people understand the value of what we did in the past. Someone once said, "No one will ever win who bets against the web." I would add that you rarely win by depending upon the way you used to do things...
It's hot and summer and everyone is moving slowly. I'm heading out to walk and soak up the feeling of slowness and see if there's a visual component to it. Wish me luck.
My succinct, if somewhat common old man (father), use the expression, "if you got one foot in tomorrow, and the other in yesterday, you're whizzing all over today!" However, he also like to quote the old axiom about those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.
ReplyDeleteI think both things are true. We need some basis from which to work and play, but we shouldn't become misty-eyed at halcyon days that never were. I try to find that balance because I recognize that this moment is built on every previous moment, but that I also don't want to waste its perfection, pining for something that can never again exist.
I love your writing Kirk!.(And I share your coffe addiction, sometimes difficult to douse here in Paraguay, where everybody drinks "mate" and it's even difficult to find a coffee shop!) It's a pleasure to read your posts each morning, and I'm enjoying a lot your timeless street photos.
ReplyDeleteEzequiel,
ReplyDeleteThanks very, very much. But....I'm switching to tea. :-)
"If the lack of comments on my posts is some scathing indictment of my writing instead........I don't know what to say."
ReplyDeleteYour writing is top-notch, Kirk... but sometimes, the day's content doesn't interest or resonate with people as much. That's just the way it is...
On a personal note, i would admit to being slightly less engaged these days partly because in general, commentary on ubiquitous Canon gear these days doesn't seem to pique my interest.
I think part of the interest with your Olympus-centric commentary was that it was relatively unique to find a pro talking about using Olympus gear. Another part of it IMHO, was that readers felt you were a bit of a maverick for using Olympus gear (and getting great results out of it), which generated curiosity and added to your persona.
But for some reason, reading commentary on using Canon gear elicits more yawn than intrigue. It might be just me, though, as i shoot Olympus, Nikon, and Sony systems, but have never been drawn to Canon. Does that make me a brand snob? ;)