It's been one of those days. Promised checks that remain elusive, phone calls unanswered, plans in a state of uncertainty. There is a weight that comes upon you gradually as you move through the
business of photography. It's the inertia of the boulder that keeps rolling down the mountain.
The real contest is to generate enough optimism and energy to wake up every day and push the boulder back up the mountain.
"The struggle itself [...] is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy." Albert Camus
From The Myth of Sisyphus -Albert Camus.
10 comments:
Kirk,
The picture is just perfect for the post. It really captures the feeling of being drained after another day (and another, and another...) of pushing that boulder. I did that for more than forty years. Thankfully, now I only push the boulders I want to and very rarely.
I KNOW when I'm having one of those days. The biggest tale telling sign is things not happening, unability to reach people, phone calls not returned, void e-mail inbox, etc. Like there's a clog somewhere in the drain.. Then out of nowhere everything starts rolling again at the same time. Soon enough you're having a day where every single try is rewarded by success, calls, mails and checks fly in, etc. It's a balancing act.
Sounds like work to me :)
I only console myself with the fact that if what I did was fun or easy, I wouldn't get paid because everyone would be doing it. But I hate late checks! Grrr.
There is an old Woody Allen quote: "90 percent of life is just showing up".
Others have revised that sage advice to become: "90% of success is just showing up".
I know that on days like you describe, that I feel like throwing in the towel, but I drag my sorry butt into work anyway, and somehow, through some magical process, by the end of the day things end up much better than I anticipated.
Nice picture. Perfectly choosen.
from Parisian subway ?
Thank you for this post Kirk, believe it or not, it's an encouragement to your readers; me anyway. I appreciate you and I appreciate your blog. It's simply, hands-down the most elegant, honest and poetically written photography blog out there ;-)
Thanks for the photo and reference - you don't see Camus come up on many photo blogs :)
Thanks. Now if I only knew what "ennui" meant...
How can you have even a minute of ennui when you can make a photograph like the one above?
Photography is all about passion and it can also be used as business. It's a lifetime hobby where you can also earn for a living. However, photography needs expenses in order to fulfill your hobby.
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