Beware of making a career out of what you love to do. It shifts your motives. I used to take pictures for the sheer joy of it; now I do it to make car payments. Each time I take a lousy job, like taking pictures of wealthy people eating dinner, or shooting the stunning interior of a fast food restaurant, the more I view my camera as an instrument of torture. We used to be friends, chums, pals, buddies, amigos. Now I pick up my camera every morning like a Costco employee picks up his back brace.
I happened to be walking to a lousy job the other day, and just before I arrived I noticed a small auto repair shop. The kid in the above shot waved me in and I took a bunch of shots of him and his dad. This is the kind of stuff I love to shoot: people making their way through this world by whatever means possible. And the people with the least tend to be the kindest and the happiest. It's a story that's told in this picture, through light and gesture and the subject's soulful eyes. Taking this picture reminded me that I need to do more of this here in Jordan, even if that means turning down lucrative crap jobs. Or maybe I just need to reflect on my company name a while.
good one bubba... love reading em.
ReplyDeleteyes, how i oh so avoid torture... to the frightening detriment of my bank account...
...someday this war's gonna end...