At Adam Jahiel's Guest House, 2006
I’ll bet that somewhere back in these almost five years of blog posts I have posted the most important thing to remember about a photographic project. If I have, it’s still worth repeating again. The most important thing you do when starting a photographic project is to figure out when it is complete. While that sounds really silly at first, but, if you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there? Without a clearly defined end point your project will just meander around and probably will never be finished. With a clearly described end point you know exactly what you have to do get there and what the completed project will look like. That leads you down a path from beginning to end.
When I do a project, I will complete a web folio, create a print portfolio (with an introduction to the work) and create documents to print exhibition sized prints. I think that’s pretty good ending point. But I do know photographers who will go further. They will write a press release for the exhibit, select publicity images and do a mock-up of a post card announcement. One does not need to go that far, but the point is to clearly define what is required to complete a project. Define the end of your project well enough so that you recognize it when you get there.
Like now.
Joe,
I love your posts! You always give me something to think about that I haven't considered.
Posted by: Muggs Ferguson | December 15, 2014 at 10:09 AM