Downtown LA as seen from a posh house in the Hollywood Hills. (C) Marcus Doyle 2019
Its been three years since I moved to California. Within its sunshine and prettiness there is an abundance of photographic content waiting to be recorded, so much so I may never leave the State.
When I was here in 2004-2009 I was constantly traveling across America searching for something. The only problem was, I didn't know what that something was and I just ended up with hundreds of random images, some good, but most of them pretty bad and not worth the film they were shot on.
Its a common thing among photographers early on in their career to produce as much work as possible from the fear of not having enough work to show. I think its something every photographer goes through. Personally it took me the best part of 10 years to get over the panic of arriving somewhere and needing to come away with not just one, but as many good images as possible.
It was dear old Ansel Adams that said;
“Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.”
This is something I can agree with now, but never 10 years ago. Just the process of being out with a camera these days can be enough. Having said all that, my approach is different now as I often work within certain project guidelines. But by far the most important thing I have learnt, is to find your boundaries and work within them. At the moment my boundaries are California, but of course that will probably change..
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