“Focus on ideas instead of tools (technology). Anyone can learn to use the tools, but it is the thinkers who really impact the culture in important ways. In the end the tools don’t offer anything interesting.”

Ran across that thought in a longer list of worthwhile points from Keri Smith in her “Secrets Shared” post.  Couldn’t agree more.

One needs to know the tools, that’s a requirement for entry.  But that’s not what makes an impact.  This difference in focus is what distinguishes artists from technicians.  Mastery of the tools is a mechanical process.  The ideas toward which the tools are applied is the art. Online photo and filmmaking discussion is 95% about the tools, which is completely out of whack with their importance.

Learning the tools has a clearer and more obvious path to completion than developing ideas. Idea development is messier and more vulnerable to uncertainty and criticism. It’s riskier. But it’s where the game is played by the most accomplished auteurs.

Along those lines, we have the best communication tools in history. But are the ideas being communicated through these tools any better? Are they even as good as when communication was more limited?

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I’m deep in pre-production and experimentation for upcoming projects, so have been distracted from the blog.  But the things I’m working on will lead to material I’m looking forward to sharing here — both the final results and the creation process.

Along those lines, I recently came across several interesting ideas regarding the creation of ideas from Steven Johnson, author of the book “Chance Favors the Connected Mind” (via Ted Hope).  Steven lays out his premise in this particularly thoughtful TED talk below, and I think he’s onto something.

First, ideas are not clearly defined, self-contained units.  Rather they’re stringy nebulous networks with lots of branches connecting to other ideas and assorted assumptions and underlying facts and impulses.  Furthermore, ideas do not tend to happen, as is typically characterized, in a single moment of inspired breakthrough, but rather gradually as hunches evolve and mingle with the hunches of others. They fade into view rather than pop into existence, generally by examining and comparing the hunch with the contributions of others — either through direct dialogue or through research of pre-existing work.

And therefore, the best environment for generating new ideas is one in which we can mix and compare our ideas rather than cultivate them in isolation. This explains why so many of the leading writers and thinkers and artists and scientists have come out of well defined creative clusters.

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We’re ramping-up for the shoot with designer Anthony Franco that I posted about previously.

It’s going smoothly thanks to the team in place which includes not only Anthony, but also Francis overseeing casting, Geordy our brilliant master of all things audio, Lonny the master of digital infrastructure & workflow, JP helping with location scouting and visual effects planning (yes, a some fun effects planned), and Raymond who will be leading the editing with the two of us working closely on shaping the final form of the short film — I plan to be in the edit booth too, I love the film editing process (tinkerers like me can’t help it).

I cranked out the script with more speed than I expected, the concept came to me in three pieces over the course of a week at which point it just felt right. The team is pumped up about it, you can tell when the people around you are into a project — that makes such a difference.

This script is consistent with my style and tone in some respects, but in other ways a departure. I’m looking forward to it as a step into what I see as a new creative phase. Periodically there are clear changes in the vibe of my work, and I feel I’m at one of those points right now. I always feel when one of these transitions is coming on — it’s a mix of eagerness to move forward and break the old mold and some ambiguity in that I’m taking new risks by abandoning many of the methods and techniques that have served me well in the past. But this kind of performing without pre-established muscle memory is how we advance our work (and, in fact, ourselves).

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Digital Photo Pro magazine was kind enough to include an article on my work in their “Masters Issue” this year, on newsstands now (and on the web, but the article looks much better in the print layout here). The title I believe came form some elaborate ideas I layed out in terms of what’s to come in my work, but none of that is in the article (nor in this post, but stay tuned).  Here are some additional interview outtakes that did not make it into the article:

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DPP Mag: Your style is so unique, and even more so for a ‘commercial photographer”. Commercial photography and fine art photography are often mutually exclusive. How have you managed to combine the two worlds and get away with it?

AB: I’m not sure I’ve gotten away with anything, I certainly loose a lot of jobs because my work does not fit in the right slots. But I was never after those jobs in the first place, I wouldn’t have entered the field to do those things. I make the work that I find meaningful and engaging and then put it out there. We’re all defined by what we show the world, so we’re only going to get hired for what’s in our portfolios. I showed the kind of work that I wanted to do, and those who connected with that work responded. I never heard from the rest, which is fine with me.

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I recently ran across this great quote from artist Chuck Close in the book Wisdom:

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who’ll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself… Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that’s almost never the case.”

While I agree with this from a practical work ethic standpoint, at the same time we have all felt genuine inspiration and it’s such a source of power. Even Chuck does not deny its existence.

Inspiration is powerful in two ways. First, it helps us discover what matters to us — the emotional response to something we find inspirational reveals what’s important to us thematically and aesthetically.  We often then find ourselves reaching most ambitiously in directions we have been inspired in some way.

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If you are 100% completely confident when first releasing your work into the world, then you played it too safe and/or waited too long (and are probably wrong anyway).

Public exposure is like oxygen for ideas and art.

All art is risk.

“Victor by Hasselblad” magazine just ran a “Masters Portfolio” on my work. With all these magazine profiles, they do long interviews and pull parts from the exchange. Below are a couple outtakes from the interview they conducted. These questions address post-production and personal projects. continued below…

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I just returned from a week in New York mixing with photographers, filmmakers, music composers, and other artists. This was on the heels of participating in a filmmaking expo where a core group of us ran around town late into the night after the events of each day. This slowed down the progress on my new projects, but I think spending time with other creative people is essential to growing as an artist.

Influential artists typically come out of creative clusters. Look at the movements in literature surrounding Hemingway and Fitzgerald, or the Russian greats, or the Latin “Magical Realists”, or the Beat Generation. This happens across fields: the British musical invasion, or the New York pop artists, or the collection of friends around Lucas and Spielberg who are now a who’s who of directors in Hollywood. This is one of the reasons geography still matters in the age of the internet and easy communication — being a part of the community is important.

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I have been invited to contribute periodic pieces to PhotoCineNews, a blog rapidly establishing itself as a leading source of information on the convergence of photography and filmmaking.  I’m excited to be a part of an impressive roster of creative professionals contributing to that digital publication. If you haven’t seen it, check it out: PhotoCineNews.com

When I write something there that’s relevant to the conversation here, I’ll make and announcement here as well. Though it will first appear published at PhotoCineNews. Below is my piece on “inspiration and creativity”…

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