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…
