The concept of mastering your craft and the idea of honing in on your skills and talents to become the best at what you do is a never ending theme in my work. Achieving that level of the ten thousand hour rule takes an enormous amount of commitment and focus. To be honest not everyone will be capable of reaching the highest point but there are ways to make the journey easier and enjoyable along the way.
This is where studying and practicing the basics of related art forms can help find new passion if the path to mastery seems long and painful. Simply put, as a photographer I'm always looking to expand my perceptive on how I can better express what I do. So learning about design, art history and music to name a few helps me acquire a greater understanding of what I do and how I can make it even better.
“Art is not just what you hear, taste and see. But the heart in which you express it”
Before I considered photography as my calling I put about 8 years into the world of music. Starting off by producing beats in my basement turned into rapping which eventually transformed into a band I was lead vocalist performing on stage. I took the art very serious just like I do with photography today so I made the commitment to learn the basics of playing instruments and creating my own home recording studio. It was quite the journey to discover all the aspects of the universe of music. A lot of development took place during those years. Especially on the concept of learning how to learn.
As I progressed I came to figure out that playing music was more than just the sounds your ears will hear but the heart in which you express it with. Music taught me about the use of story, its characters and how your body is just as important to the notes you play. Back then I wanted to do it all and be it all. But life will always be there to serve you a slice of humble pie and test your convictions and commitments.
Balance was one of my first slap in the face of many lessons. When you start a new venture and come to point where you think you know it all, it only proves that you know very little or nothing really. That's why practice will never get old because every aspect in whatever from of art you choose is filled with so much information it can last your entire life to comprehend.
Learning the balance between my on stage music expression and in studio sessions was like a split personality to me. I always though I had to be good at one over the other and choose only one thing. But in the end they both feed each other and helped myself become more unique in my ways of displaying my talents to the world.
“The beauty is in realizing how much everything is connected”
When I finally burned my bridges and headed straight for photography I now had the prior experience of learning things a lot quicker. Cutting out the fluff and going right into the meat of the matter with the results of your execution was the hardest but best way to learn the art as fast as I knew at that time. Especially with learning how to take on criticism. Performing in front of hundreds of people made me comfortable with putting myself out there and always being open for change when I knew I didn't perform as expected. Bridging the gap between music and photography I was able to direct a crowd on stage and able to take that same energy and pose a group for portraits. The confidence from performing on stage helped me communicate effectively when I now direct my subjects in a certain way.
So ask yourself these two questions...
What is it that you love to do apart from the art that you most adept in?
How can you take your other interests and talents and change your art into something unique and inspiring?
