I’ve been thinking about how often I go back to a photograph I made some time ago in order to polish it up or change it around.  Or just to begin working on what I’ve convinced myself will be a difficult task.  What I’ve come to realize is that sometimes we aren’t ready or equipped to complete a work as we envision it in our mind at the time of inspiration.  Sometimes we just don’t have the technical ability to craft the thing we see.  We’re close, but we’re not there.

Yet.

I’m of an age where Ansel Adams was hugely influential in my development as a photographer.  Adams passed in 1984, the year I turned 24 years old, and decided that I was going to become a “serious” photographer.  Adam’s books, The Camera, The Negative, and The Print, along with those of many other famous photographers, indelibly shaped my approach to photography.  

One of the gifts that Ansel gave to me and many, many others was the practice of what he called pre-visualization.  This isn’t, as many believe, just looking at something and seeing it as a print on the wall.  Adams describes the practice like this:

“In my mind’s eye, I visualize how a particular… sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice.”  

And, I would add, a deep familiarity with your subject on some level.  The more you understand your subject the more nuanced your rendering of it as a print will be, and that translates into a print with more power and appeal for the viewer, whether they understand it as well as you or not.

Having that inner vision helps drive me to develop new skills and master new techniques to bring that thing into the world.  Often I forget all about it until one day I’m working on something totally different and realize, “This is what I need to render that photo I shot years ago!”  It’s like my mind had been working to solve the problem all along and brought me to this juncture with purpose.

I know it isn’t just me.  Lots of artists far greater than I will ever be have faced the same dilemma. In a study cited here, a researcher found that almost all great artists and musicians worked for at least 10 years before they produced a single work worthy of the title “Masterpiece.”  Even Mozart, who was a child prodigy! 

I’ll leave you with a couple of pertinent quotes from authoritative sources. 🙂

“When did Beethoven compose his Sixth Symphony? The first sketches of the Pastoral Symphony appeared in 1802, but Beethoven was not ready to complete it for a further six years.”  BBC Music

“Making art is pure play. Within every artist, there’s a child emptying a box of crayons onto the floor, searching for just the right color to draw the sky.” Rick Rubin, Author and Music Guy