Let it be ...
Saturday, September 12th 2009 @ 1:48 AM (not yet rated)
That's rather a famous title and oft-repeated line in one of John Lennon's biggest hits with his mates, the Beatles. And it was a phrase that came up in my several-hour-long voice lesson yesterday. And, I realized later, it applies to photography too. Let me explain:
As a singer, I'm a tenor; in classical terms a lyric tenor with a rather ... large ... instrument. We are now working the upper end of my vocal range (the high notes) to get ready to take on a fairly advanced repertoire ... including some of the major tenor operatic arias, or songs.
To get that "sound", the "ring", that a classical tenor must have, and to be able to maintain the altitude these pieces are written for, there are some very odd things one has to learn to do with the voice. And then, one has to simply let the sound pour out as it comes, very ... uncontrolled. Wild. Primal.
You have to learn to stop trying to make sounds like anyone else you've ever heard; to create noise that feels weird and (to oneself) sounds utterly bizarre; and then, just when it seems totally ridiculous ... just let it be what it is. If you've got "the pipes" to do this, it creates a stunning sound ... that others may love or not, but you, as the singer, will always find ... odd. Unsettling. You'll think, so ... people really ... like? ... this?
And yet, at the same time ... it is so very personal, so expressively ... and so embarrasingly frankly ... you. It's ... naked ... and in a VERY public way. It's an art meant only for public presentation. You can't hide it, as anyone can hear it clearly a block away. It is both terrifying and highly addictive. Jumping out of "perfectly good airplanes" time and again is both easier to do and to walk away from. Been there done that.
And yet, for all the struggles and terrors and toils of the years of learning, the hardest thing to master in all of the singing technique training ... is to just let it be.
But wait ... that is also the hardest part about becoming a photographic artist ... to just let it be. To let your own ideas, premonitions, and intrugues about a subject rule what you do to record it with camera and printing or software processing. Not because of the rules about "this is how you do x". And not from trying to be different from anyone and everyone else.
"Let it be" isn't about anyone else at all. It's only about the creator of the art. It's about YOU. It's allowing your art to be naked in public. "Yep, that's mine", you need to say ... "and the way I see it". No matter what anyone says. No matter what they see. No matter.
Before you can really accomplish this, you need to have mastered your craft so you can just do what your brain can see inside itself. You have to have the skills, knowledge, and practice of craft such that craft is no longer a challenge but a tool, a help. The means to bring to fruition in front of you all that your brain can imagine. It doesn't happen overnight, of course; but with patience and determination, it does happen. And we are here to help with this, of course.
But the other part, the even harder part ... is becoming that individual, that ... Self ... that can create works that please itself. And in so doing, give to others those interesting moments we all have when we are confronted with an artist with their own ... style. Their own way of seeing and presenting images.
An artist with a strong sense of self in their art is always more satisfying than a great copyist. The pursuit of art, really, is the pursuit of self; and the ability to express that self-ness to the public. (We can help with this too, of course.)
So where are you along this journey? And how can we help you to make the next steps along the way? How can you push yourself to make the next steps ... knowing the next steps are always harder than the last ones? What drives you?
If you can answer the last question, the others will fall into place. Master your craft ... learn what drives you, and then, let it be.
