Watching presentations about photography can lead to discoveries in your own work, something that I did not mention in the other article. I sometimes see images passing by that instantly remind me of captures that I stored somewhere in my archives. Besides being part of digital storage, these images have in common that they were rejected after one single review.
When I plow through an archive to recover such ‘lost’ shots, there is usually a temporal, uplifting buzz of getting closer to a revival of a number of images. Sometimes though, there is also an undercurrent to keep me company. A not so fleeting sense of possible new roads, a promise of growth ahead.
Seeing similarities with things that other people make helped me to discover aspects in my work of which I was totally unaware. This could be a hidden theme with an unexplored potential, but there are also the insights about details like understanding that a missing part in a frame can be the strength of an image instead of a missed opportunity.
Reconnecting with my own work like this, has also strongly validated the sense of conviction that is with me since day one of my artistic pursuits. Seeing how I instinctively create work that apparently has ‘family’ as well as an audience is encouraging, to say the least. A good thing when you start a life as an artist.
As the similarities broaden my horizon, the differences show me where the other is the other and where my own expression is my own. Artistic, technical and personal growth bring the various gathered insights into expression. Sometimes it involves active practice and focused experimentation. At other times things are simply noted and left to mature as life progresses without a sense of need or purpose.