This week marked the start of my new job away from anything to do with cameras. My God, it feels good. I come home; I am physically exhausted, but my brain is full of life and comes alive with ideas as my body rests from the day’s graft.
For the first time in my working life, I feel like I am doing something I should be doing; all my creativity is for me and me alone. I bust my ass every day working in a warehouse, lifting, sorting out and packing things, but my brain stays dormant at this time and only really comes to life when I come home and work on anything photography-related. God, it is so good.
I notice things start slowly; firstly, I lose all camera/photography related ads and marketing aimed at me. Next, I notice I am able to install social media back on my phone, as the lack of free time in the day makes the apps way more manageable. I find my love for the true art form returning to a point where the work I create is now once and for all about my life and not to appease anyone else.
I get my lunch times back to think about how I can create work and document it here. I sit listening to the trains go by as my legs get some energy back and the tops of my toes bash against the inner steel caps in my boots. Life is free. During these times, I think of all my fellow photographers who chose a life away from cameras to create truly great work. All of them are far superior artists and storytellers than I could ever imagine, but each of them uses the same method to gain the greatest results possible for them. I think of Vivian Maier, Giles Duly, Jim Mortram, and even Brian Duffy.
All of these artists are those who pivoted their lives away from cameras and working as professional photographers but can only be considered to be some of the greatest image takers of the last century.
I hope one day this entry will be able to be looked back on as my entry to this great hall of legends. My feet hurt all the time now, however.
