In a recent discussion with other professionals about some current trends in photography – strangely colored yellow or blue green washes over the image – I made the following observation about the staying quality of photographs:
“When I got married, chocolate colored tuxes were in vogue. 5 years later, I could not look at them without wincing. Trendy is quick to pass. Black tuxes wax and wane in enthusiasm, but unlike a trend, always look good in retrospect. I want my photography to be like a classic black tux. Finding the right client isn’t as easy, but they won’t be as likely to take them down from the walls a couple years after the fact.”
That’s my mission statement, whether it’s about portraiture, commercial or any other kind of work I create.
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Photography to stand the test of time, like a classic black tux.
I specialize in photographic problem solving. My images help give personality to businesses, connecting them to their audiences and ultimately increasing their bottom line.
Photographer, blogger, educator and co-founder of www.theprofessionalphotographyforum.com
Call 724-730-8513 to learn more about how I might be able to help you with your photographic needs.
John BehmJeff, you couldn’t be more on-target (particularly about chocolate tuxes!! 😉 ) What you speak of approaches the dilemna faced by artists: to try to capitalize on the fashion of the moment?, or to strive to transcend ephemeral questions to achieve something which endures, irrespective of passing tastes, fashions, trends.
It sometimes galls, of course, to see the opportunists of trends prosper, as they often seem to do, while we struggle on. When you keep on making your work, cleaving to your vision despite the lean times, this is the mark of the artist – so I’ve always understood (or am I just rationalizing my own history 😉 ).
It is entertaining to watch as years roll round and suddenly, surprisingly (hah! ), one’s work in synch with the moment’s tastes again. Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, though we may know that we are telling the truth – our truth – all day long.
How we came to this perspective – to hope to transcend – who can tell? Imbibed with our mother’s milk perhaps, and our father’s principled pronouncements. I prefer that to thinking I’m just too stupid to prostitute my work!