Your Art and the Iceberg Effect

Most of our art is unseen, and that's by design.

Church, Sacaton, AZ. Photo by the author.

Good morning.

I hope today is super productive for you.

I will be chained to the computer all morning but for brief respites, but I hope that leaves the afternoon open for some art and planning.

November is the month when people try to write novels within the constrictions of 30 days. It’s known as NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and it is extremely popular.

I don’t write novels, rarely have time to read them. Sorry, I’m a non-fiction sort of dude.

But I like the concept.

So for the month of November, I want to create one piece of art per day.

Photograph
Artwork
Writing with Illustrations (writing without I do everyday anyway)
Music (32 bars constitute a day)

Planning is involved, so that is taking place this afternoon.

This will be its own challenge for me, and I will be sharing the work with you as I go.

I am inviting you to do the same thing.

Commit to making something every day for the month of November.

Share it here or on your blog and let us know where we can find it.

OK, so we won’t write another Jane Eyre, but we can have fun making our own stuff, right?

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Photo by Richard Bustos

The Iceberg Effect: The Unseen Work

When we see other photographer’s work, and admire it for its incredible aesthetic, color, composition, or concept, we are seeing the tip of the iceberg.

We know from science class that icebergs are usually at least 2/3 submerged. That means there is more unseen about an iceberg than actually seen.

That didn’t work out so well for Jack, but it can help us understand how important that unseen work is to developing a set of images that are worthy to be seen.

Building a visually literate approach to making images requires work that is often done without camera in hand.

Books, movies, videos, galleries, shows, group critiques… all of these can help a photographer discover their approach, their voice.

Working with the camera is the visible part of the iceberg, reading, experimenting, failing, fixing, and challenging themselves is the unseen part.

And just as in a real iceberg, it is larger than the visible part.

If you are a fashion photographer, I would expect you to know names like Avedon, Elgort, Demarchelier, Lindbergh, Moon, and VonUnwerth.

I would also expect you to know Dolce Gabbana, Dior, what fabrics are “in” this year, the names of contemporary designers, and how to hire a model.

If you are a car photographer, I would expect you to be able to identify a 1968 Shelby Cobra by the taillights, or a Lambo by a shot of the interior.

If you cannot, I wonder why you do what you do.

When I shot fashion (a long time ago) I was expected to know all about what was “in” and what was “out”. God forbid you shoot a wide belt, or last year’s chunky heels for anything you were going to show.

(One of the things that fashion did was keep us shooting as our portfolios had to look like current fashion up to the minute. Yes, exceptions were made for exceptional work, but that carve out was more for specific reasons other than the photograph. A photo of Christie Brinkley in your portfolio was more powerful than what her heel height was. Ahh, the days of the supermodels. You kids don’t know what you missed.)

For photographers today, there are far more resources than the few magazines we could get our hands on in 1988. Take advantage of all that is there for you.

Books. Oh man, do I love books.

(My recent move reminded me of something else about photo books… they are very heavy. Very. Heavy.)

Being able to sit down in a quiet area, open a book full of Salgado’s work, or Penn’s portraits, or Lindbergh’s constant stream of fashion goodness, it helps me make sense of my own work.

Now I am not a fashion photographer anymore, nor am I a documentarian.

But the frame shows what the frame is.

And the frame is the window into the world of another photographer’s vision. It may not be my own, but it affects my own by imparting a tiny morsel of interest, history, context, or whimsy that gets stored in the little compartments of my brain.

And they can be pulled out at a single moment in time to provide a reference - both positive and negative, although usually neutral - to the image I have before me.

I have been inspired by Peter Lindbergh when shooting food, Richard Avedon when shooting environments, Sarah Moon … well, Sarah Moon inspires me so much in any and all situations.

I watch movies to see cinematography, and I look at cinematography for color, composition, and lighting.

From Special Victims Unit to Lord of the Rings, there is a masterclass in lighting delivered every moment.

The movie Tender Mercies is a compositional seminar worth thousands.

At least to me. To my sensibilities, my vision, my aesthetic.

Laying the groundwork for your art is the submerged part of the iceberg. It’s knowing the history, the context, the masters who came before and what they brought to the party.

I follow young photographers as well. Sam Elkins, Wesley Verhoeve, Willem Verbeek among them. Their fascination with the art and the exuberance of their craft makes me smile and inspires me to keep relevant.

It helps keep the old man out.

And like any iceberg, in order to have a little work seen above the surface, there needs to be a great deal going on under the surface.

Pushing on to the next level means adding more and more work that will never be seen by anyone. That is a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is that we don’t have to share this experimental work that is designed to fail in most aspects but render us a little to use for the next experiment.

And a curse, because today’s constant demand for more and more and more can wear us down to a frazzle, and that can let us become sloppy with what we show.

Don’t let the demand for work push you to show work that maybe shouldn’t be seen.

Be an iceberg, only the best is seen at the top, the rest is the force that keeps you afloat.

And that means you make more art.

When you are ready, here is how I can help you succeed.

Group Mentorship: a small group of photographers who meet to show images, work on their portfolio, and build their businesses with help from a wonderful group. Lifetime membership for one fee.

One-on-one Mentorship: You and me - working together in an intense 6-month push to get you on the way to over $30k in revenue if you are getting less, over $60K if you are already making $30K.

The Creative Class: Expand your toolset and become a one-person visual agency capable of pulling in steady and repeated income.

The Five Day Sprint to help you find, get, and keep clients.

Premium members: a copy of my book, The Heart of Portraiture… enjoy.