Editing The Gulf of Mexico
February 4th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
I’m immersed, so to speak, in the Gulf of Mexico – editing, processing, sequencing images I made on my summer 2010 drive along about 3,000 miles of Gulf Coast. I don’t see the light of day much at the moment. My days are spent mostly in front of two large computer screens, on a small zafu (meditation pillow), on the floor in the corner of a small room – my studio for the time being.
Wow, editing is wicked hard. Is there anyone that thinks editing is easy? If so, do you really know editing? Do you want to come visit?
To edit a body of work, one must be ruthless – cut, cut, cut and cut some more, rip and shred attachments, ideas, favorite photographs hard earned and well made – but something has to go, lots of things have to go. The process is nasty, wild and seldom pretty. When I’m editing I often wake up too early, toss and turn, mull things over, get up pace, am often just plane agitated and can be dangerous because I might mistake you for a photograph that needs to be done away with.
Do you know now why I posted this image of a shark in an aquarium tank?
I was feeling a bit stuck the other day so I reached out to some buddies in hopes of getting some inspiration or at least someone to have a mutual “editing is evil hard” talk. The only one I managed to rouse was my friend Norman Mauskopf. What a gem and a great photographer – his work on the people of northern New Mexico is showing at Verve Gallery in Santa Fe right now, by the way. Norman emailed me some great thoughts and advise about his editing process. I’ll share his last line to me: “The moral of the story? That which takes time, time respects.”
Thank you Norman.
I’m fueling myself with miso, noodles, veggies, kefir and blueberries, banana bread, genmacha tea, vitamin D, raw honey and 85% dark chocolate. I entertain myself with facebook posts and surfing on my laptop while I wait for photoshop to work through a save or an action or two. I take a break once or twice a week to go down to the beach for an afternoon and a walk. I make sure I cook something yummy and healthy and do yoga every night. Music is my constant companion – Patti Smith, BB King, Krishna Das, The Pretenders, Janis Joplin, Nancy Griffith, The Beatles – of course – and now and then some Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and the like. You know whether it’s safe to talk to me based on what music I have playing – Patti, Janis or Zeppelin, maybe not such a good time to interrupt – Krishna Das or Grateful Dead, come on in, just don’t make any wild thrashing movements or you might lose a limb.
Well, just thought I’d peak out of the depths. Now back to work. Chomp.
