you have to delete the images that you are the most proud of
okay, maybe not delete them, but put them aside
this is common advice among writers, attributed to a few authors
but it's been repeated over and over, for a good reason
it's because it's true
I believe that it also applies to photography
let me tell you why
so in photography, a darling would be an image that you are really attached to
to the point where you are not seeing it objectively anymore
this usually happens when an image is very difficult to make
we all have images we worked really hard for
we sweat for those images
perhaps we even bled to make them
please be careful
don't put yourself in danger for an image
it's not worth it
images that we love because of that
and that's also the reason why we have to get rid of them
it hurts but it needs to be done
the idea is to look at our images as objectively as possible without any feelings attached
to forget how hard it was to make those images
of course, this is impossible to achieve
we'll always feel something for those images
we'll always remember how hard it was to make them
but it's something that we should strive for at least
we need to know if it's the image that evokes those sensations that we are feeling
because of the composition, the light, the subject, the atmosphere...
or if it's our memories from that moment that are responsible for those feelings
because if it's the latter, if it's the context that
only us have as photographers, as the makers of those images...
then no one else is going to feel the same way we do when they look at them
getting rid of your darlings can be very painful
it hurts to discard, to throw away an image
I know that very well myself because in the making of my book ONE
I had to take an initial selection of 1000 images
and cut it down to just 200
I had to leave out a lot of images that I love
images that took a lot of effort, work, time and dedication to make
and actually, I liked some of those images more than many that did make it to the book
but those images are special to me, and only to me
not to anyone else
as an example, you won't find many images, if any at all
from some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and from some of the
hardest and most challenging things I've ever done
like my hike to the enchantments in washington
when I climbed South Sister in oregon
or Mt Timpanagos in Utah
or when I walked 130 miles of the camino here during the winter
I did make plenty of images during those times
and they are very special to me, because they remind me of
those challenges that I was able to overcome
but they weren't good enough to be in the book
because without the context of all the hardships
and challenges that I had to go through to make them
well, they aren't as good
this is the tricky part, because your darlings are likely invisible to you
how can you tell if an image makes you
feel the way you feel when you look at it because of the composition, the light...
or if it's because the experience that you had when you made it
or maybe a combination of both?
in my opinion, the best way to tell is by giving your images time
take the photograph, make a quick and rough edit,
share them if you want, and then forget about them for a while
maybe weeks, maybe months, perhaps even years
that way, when you finally get back to them
you should be a little bit more detached from the feelings that you felt when you made them
still subjective, but seeing them more for what they really are
another way is to show them to someone else and ask them what is that they see in the image
maybe someone close to you
maybe someone online, another photographer, a peer
ask: what is that you see in this image?
or maybe just see how people react when you share them online compared to other photos of yours
photography is about creating something from within
some even say that we should keep an audience of just one,
ourselves, in mind when we create our images
and that's all good, but if we want to share what we saw,
what we envisioned, what we felt... with others
and maybe that's the purpose of art
then, we need to think about them a little bit too
in the end, you must like all the images that you share
but not all the images that you like should be shared
and talking about images that evoke emotions and feelings
today, I wanted to share with you the work of another of my patrons
in this case Victor McNeil
I'm going to leave his instagram somewhere around here
and the link in description down below
I really love how gritty his images are, and how haunting and how beautiful they are
Thank you so much, Victor, and all the other patrons for your contributions
they really help supporting my work
that's all for today, I hope you enjoyed the video
thank you so much for watching again, and see you in the next one!