JUST SHOOT DAMMIT
SHOT WITH FUJI XPRO-3 - XF35 F1.4 & X100V
My apathy is undeniable. So is it’s sibling, atrophy. I can’t deny it, both have taken hold of me in a big way in 2022. I’m surprised I can still remember how to make a Squarespace post there’s been so few of them this year.
There’s no excuses for it and if I believe my friend and mentor Patrick La Roque, it’s 100% normal and I shouldn’t beat myself up over it. As much as I’d like to self indulge in my apparent laziness, it is good to know I may not be the only one going through this at the moment.
I realized as I started writing this post that December 2022 marks exactly 10 years since my first serious dive into photography. My first modern day camera was the original Fujifilm X100. I had already been shooting with whatever version of the iPhone I had at the time, but after attending an Eric Kim photo workshop, I set my sites on Fuji’s small APS-C camera. It had the right look, felt good in my hand and while I had no idea how to use the damn thing, it did make me feel like a photographer.
My first images with my new and nifty X100 were taken in Paris while on holiday with Alice and the boys. It’s fair to say that I had absolutely no idea how to use my camera. None. Zero. I’m embarrassed to admit that I spent that first trip taking images without a single thought to what the settings meant. I thought I knew, but in all honesty it was a disaster.
Fast forward 10 years and I’m happy to look back on my blog and I’m very proud of some of the images and stories I’ve posted. This blog was always going to be a vanity project for me. I have no aspirations for social media greatness. I love taking images and, clearly from the array of stories I’ve posted, I used to love writing my thoughts down and trying to create a cohesive story. Sometimes people, most often friends, would go to my blog and tell me they liked what they saw. But in truth it’s not been many and while it hurts to know that fame and fortune will not be knocking at my door, it has forced me to look inside and remind myself of why I do this in the first place.
To mark 10 years I had a look at some of my older posts. They are exactly what I intended them to be, a formal reminder for what those moments meant to me. Not necessarily great art, but meaningful to me nevertheless.
I would be remiss at this juncture to not say a big thank you to Patrick La Roque for his mentorship and friendship these last 7 years. His work continues to be an inspiration to me and his persistence in believing in my ability to take a few decent photos has helped me enormously.
So my advise to my future self, 10 years from now is to do what I was always told to do, but would often forget…. Just Shoot Dammit.