Team Wet Dog

self portrait #78,192

Someone told me the other day that most of the self portraits I make seem "somber." That may not have been the exact comment, but you get the point -- not too much going on. That's not what was meant, but it's true anyway.

My response - not true, though perhaps sort of - is that my self portraits are basically shot when I'm bored. When I don't have anything else to shoot.

For the past month or so I've felt a little disappointed with what I've been posting here. Surface level stuff, I guess, with a few exceptions. Some of it is interesting to me, some of it is good (I think), but most of it just seems to lack something.

Partly, that's a function of volume. A year ago I was shooting a lot more than I am now. A year ago, making photographs was "what I was doing." These days, time constraints are tougher and it gets harder to pull out the camera and simply go walking,.

I'd like to change that. But at the same time, I'm not certain how. I can't invent time, and I can't manufacture inspiration. Which leads to another self portrait.

I'm heading to South Carolina early next month for a few days - the stuff I shot there last year was good, I think. It always seems to help to get out of town for a bit. And later this year we're trying to plan a trip to Italy. Maybe seeing different things, in a different place, could help see other things in a different way.

In some ways though, finishing up the book last month sort of left me looking for a new project. Besides classes (which do take up a lot of time and direction), I don't seem to have a specific goal right now and it's been a while since I was in that spot.

— Robert

(9/22/06) 
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