Ignore Everybody. That is the name of the book I picked up in 2009. I was interested in self starting a business (I wanted people to pay me to blog) which lead me to people like Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin. I read Seth’s Small is the New Big and almost instantly knew in my bones I was on the right path. I was compelled to start fresh with a new domain and a new blog. Seth also turned me on to copywriter turned professional cartoonist, Hugh MacLeod (Gaping Void). Hugh began his career much like mine, an artist behind a desk, somewhere in Manhattan, scribbling cartoons on the back of business cards. Hugh is a tell-it-how-it-is kind of guy. He doesn’t sugar coat. He will tell you point blank, turning a hobby into a job is not a good idea in fact its a bad one. I appreciate that. I read his book cover to cover and almost immediately went out and ordered one of his illustrations. It’s hanging on the wall of my office to my left. When I glance up I see the words IGNORE EVERYBODY, translation don’t worry what other people are doing do what you love. I took that message to heart and walked away from a dry desk job. I bought a fancy camera. But I failed to follow Hugh’s advice on page 30, keep your day job. I put the cart, the cart being expensive camera gear before the proverbial work horse (zero shoots on the books). A financial disaster brewing. Almost four years and two blogs later, I’m re-reading the books and thinking hard about what I do with my camera and how much of the day I devote myself to my craft. Here are a few of my favorite pearls of wisdom from Hugh, highlighted in my copy of his book.
- You are responsible for your own experience.
- Everyone is born creative, everyone is given a box of crayons in Kindergarten.
- Sing in your own voice.
- Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.
- Worrying about “Commercial vs. Artistic is a complete waste of time.
- Remain frugal.
- Allow your work to age with you.
This year I decided to slow down and shoot less. I’m sure I am not alone in the feeling that my best work remains unseen, invisibly stored away on hard drives and loft cloudspace. I want to take the time to go through some of my work during these past three and a half years and apply new editing tools and hopefully refined skills. I just want to shoot for awhile with no direction, no end goal, no daily prompt.
I want to finish editing my prized Foo Fighter photos (say that three times fast!). Maybe apply a few VSCO filters.
I want to see how many rings I can get when I shoot into the sun. Just because.
I want to finish editing my vacation photos.
From last summer.
I want someone to take over as the driver for a while so I can just enjoy the scenery.
Taking a step back is a great way to get perspective. Sometimes it’s almost impossible to see the forest through the trees. Its also a great way to invigorate and refresh your creative spirit. Have you ever considered taking a break from what you do? If only for a short while? If you wanted to but haven’t what held you back?
Lindsey
Some valuable tips here – thank you Lindsey!
I’ve never been tempted to take a break from photography; probably because I have no options but for it to remain a hobby. However, taking a step back from my writing is something I’ve done from time to time both professionally and hobby-wise; it is very liberating to come back to it after a while and be able to view my work with more of an outside perspective and pinpoint the bits that are quite good and the bits that need more work.
Also, that is a whole lot of sun rings – more than I would have thought possible 🙂
Love this, Lindsey! I’m not sure I’ve intentionally taken breaks, but sometimes life has it’s own way of pushing those breaks on me, and I have tried not to resist, and I usually come out better on the other side. Wonderful advice, much of which speaks to me Right Now, and beautiful photos.
Lindsey, I agree that it is valuable to step back, reflect upon and evaluate our work, maybe even refocus the direction one is heading. I do this in small increments with my bead, textile, and photography work, constantly. “Ignore Everybody” seems like the perfect mantra. Especially currently with our abundance of social media, where it is very easy to get swept away in the latest visual trends, leaving it more difficult to develope one’s own vision!
Enjoy your slower year ahead. I’m sure it will be wonderful. Also, the FF photo is a gem!
i really appreciate you speaking honestly about how it didn’t work out as you’d thought. we usually only hear the success stories. this is comforting.
Hindsight is 20/20 right? It’s been one huge learning curve I will tell you.
Wow Lindsey, this is a fabulous piece!!! I have taken breaks before, usually because I begin to doubt my ability and forget to remember that it’s because I love photography that I take pictures! And when I remember that I am on my way again. Wonderful piece — and I love the idea of revisiting old photos and I have STILL to edit my photos of my vacation last August!!!! xxxooo
Thank you Linda 😀 I am compelled to air my dirty laundry from time to time it’s the same way on my own blog. It’s cathartic and somehow makes it real when I hit the publish button. It’s like a block I can’t move past until I own it by publicly. Really what I hope for is that someone who is following the same path can avoid some of the pitfalls I misjudged.
I’ve been on an unintentional downtime from taking photos for coming up on a year. I take them if inspiration strikes, but otherwise like you I’ve been weeding through years of photos, working on a new website and seeing what my archives contain. It’s been both refreshing and unnerving, and not a little scary as I slowly amble toward what is next. Good for you, and I hope you come out the other end with fresh perspective! x
I really enjoyed this, Lindsey. I always “ignore everybody” in the sense that shooting to someone else’s program or expectations has always felt creativity-stifling to me – the same reason, despite the fact that I’m a voracious reader, I’m not good book club material. I want to read what I want to read when I want to read it.
But when the inspiration doesn’t flow, I don’t force it. And yes, I absolutely think some of my best work sits forgotten on a harddrive.
I’ve been in an incredible funk lately, and just last week decided to use the time to revisit some favorite old photos that required processing tlc that I wasn’t capable of providing when I shot them. Cleaning them up and posting what may be one of the better photos I’ve ever taken & sharing it was a more powerful mood lifter than filling a new roll of film.
Now I’m off to my library’s website to check out these authors! And I really want to see those Foo FIghter photos!
I love this Lindsey (and I would even it it didn’t include Foos!). I get all locked up in my head as well about what and why I should be shooting and I end up shooting nothing at all. I hope that taking a step back and ignoring everybody helps to rev that considerable mojo of yours.
wonderful post lindsey 🙂 with some great new resources for me too! you know how i feel about this and have myself, been trying to step back on the weekends and take a break from the internet in general. i have found that since I am so behind on so many shoots, I just don’t even WANT to take more photos! I’m slowly getting through shoots from 3 years ago! Yes, 3 years. I have yet to touch the images from my niece’s baptism. Slowly but surely. This is all not a big secret from me, but Im slowly making my way through everything one day at a time. Hang in there. I can’t wait to see what you’ll shoot next, xo
I think it is SO important to take that break and go through your archives! I’ve been doing this a bit too (funny how so many of us are at that place). Teaching some classes forced me to look for specific examples of techniques and compositions. It was a good experience — in seeing my progress, seeing areas I’m stagnant, areas I could grow, all of it. I haven’t shot much this winter either. And I think it has been good for me, as I’m feeling ready for new things.
But rest assured you aren’t the only one feeling mistakes were made. I’m still not sure my decision to launch a business will be worthwhile (at least financially). That is yet to be seen, and I’m opening up to letting it go and just seeing how the wind will blow.
Oh Lindz, I love this in a way that I can’t express adequately, but I think you can imagine. Your candor is so helpful. (Since I seem to be very bad at ignoring everybody.)
Lindsey. This is brilliant. I have a list of 22 ways to happiness and so many of these intersect with your suggestions. And always, family time. x
Lindsey, I hope your step back provides you with the perspective that you want and need. Loved your honesty with us here today. xoxo (and these are some dang beautiful photos girl)