Thoughts on Limitations

Last month, I spoke at the The Image Deconstructed workshop in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Also there was Sara Naomi Lewkowicz discussing her powerful series of photographs, Shane and Maggie. After her presentation, I asked, “How do you start a new project knowing that it probably will never match the caliber of this series?” She said, “I have to accept the fact that the best work of my career may already be done.” It was an incredibly honest and graceful response. Her best work may already be completed, and yet here she is, still fighting against the odds to do better each time. For me, there’s a great lesson: not simply that every project can’t be a bases-loaded-out-of-the-park-home-run but rather the underlying implication–that every time we pick up a camera or sit down to edit, we are fighting against the limitations of both the work in front of us and our own natural…

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Finishing is the Hard Part

Creative work is of course never really finished. As the saying goes, it’s only abandoned. Nevertheless, the last few days of production can feel excruciatingly difficult. At MediaStorm, we often say that the last 10 percent of work requires 30 percent of the effort. So why is that? I think the struggle comes from two equally strong and opposing forces. On the one hand, there’s a certain impatience at the end of a project. Often after spending weeks or even months on the same piece, I’m frankly ready to be done. I’m ready for others to start watching. On the other hand, finishing a project requires a meticulous attention to detail. Just as my work feels like it’s coming to an end, there’s a barrage of tedious but requisite tasks that need to be finished: adding room tone, mixing and repairing audio, color correcting video. So even as there’s a strong pull…

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