Body of Work
To follow up on yesterday’s post, I wanted to explore the concept of the “body of work” a bit more, especially questions I still have about defining a project, sharing work-in-progress, and knowing when you’re done. On Conscientious yesterday, Jörg talked a bit about how he experiences art, specifically in the context of comparing new work to previous work from the same artist. He uses the body of work as a way to distinguish the new from the old. Books or gallery shows are an easy way to think about this: Uncommon Places is clearly a single, cohesive body of work. Every image is related to every other image in some way or another, they explore the same themes, and there is a point where Shore said to himself “I am done with this work, I am ready to send it out into the world.”
Of course, twenty years later, a new edition of the Uncommon Places book was released with twice as many images. So which is the definitive piece?
Jörg says “I tend to think that as an artist you should really only show a body of work once you’re done with it (and whether or not you’re done with it is up to you to decide).”
Now, by default I tend to equate the body of work with the series, but there is no reason that a body of work couldn’t be one image or three images or one hundred. But it is a discrete way to say that a work is conceptually of a piece and when you consider it, you should consider the whole.
I bristled a bit when I first read Jörg’s statement. After all, I have always enjoyed sharing photographs as I create them, having “come of age”, photographically speaking, in the world of blogs and Flickr. It has become second nature for me to go out and take some pictures and upload my work for the world to see. So far, my notion of a project has been nebulous and open ended, and if I followed that kind of thinking verbatim, work that I am proud of would never see the light of day. But then I came across the following statements from Amy Stein and Alec Soth that I’ve excerpted from Two Way Lens:
Michael Werner: In your opinion and experience, how can emerging photographers evaluate themselves as ready to start promoting their works and seek broader exposure for their photographs? What is one vital action you would recommend photographers undertake to find their audience, be included in exhibitions, and gain professional representation?
Amy Stein: I think it is important to make the distinction between beginning photographers and emerging photographers. Emerging photographers have already created an impressive body of work and received some level of recognition. Too many beginners consider themselves emerging and try to jump ahead before they are ready.
Beginning photographers should just produce work and learn. They should go to every photography exhibit on the calendar and read every photography book they can get their hands on. They should look at the work of people that inspire them and explore the many levels of thought the artist brought to each photograph. They should be extremely honest with themselves about where they are in their career and brutally honest with themselves about their photographs. Put in the time and don’t show the work until you have a lot more than just a couple of good photographs.
And the same question put to Alec Soth:
What I like about this question is that you acknowledge that emerging photographers often aren’t ready to start promoting themselves. I find it aggravating that so many young photographers busy themselves with self-promotion when they should just be taking pictures. Let’s use the analogy of the young novelist. When you are writing your first novel, you don’t try to get it published based on a single chapter. First you need to write the book. Too many photographers are shopping for galleries and publishers with unfinished portfolios.
It is a long process getting the first project together. And it often leads to failure. Not only does the novelist need to finish the first book, she might need to write two or three before she hits the target. But here is the thing – when the work is good, you will know it. And when you believe in the work, you can promote it. In the end, good work will find an audience.
Original interview with Amy Stein here, original interview with Alec Soth here.
Would Sleeping By the Mississippi have had the same impact if Alec had been blogging photos from the road every day? I suspect that a lot of the power of that project comes from the editorial selection, and in a way I am glad I’ve never seen the images that didn’t make the cut.
So I seem to be leaning toward agreeing with the idea that a project/series/body of work really needs time to gestate, that every outtake and editorial decision does not need to be made for the whole world to see. That allows you to experiment, make mistakes, and fail without the fear of the public eye.
January 8, 2009