Intentionality
Recently, I embarked on a project to re-organise my archives. Starting this project, my top drawer was strewn with various hard drives with various personal and commercial work from different and predominantly random points in time. My Lightroom catalogue had over 150,000 photos—which was daunting at this project's start. The project then evolved into re-discovery, nostalgia and, ultimately, new inspiration.
After diving into my catalogue, I stumbled across images I had entirely forgotten. Images that had been overlooked were never edited or written off as bad photos. Over time and through a new lens, these photos had taken on new meaning. Subsequently, becoming inspiration on their own without the need for the broader context within which the photos were taken, the images themselves were the story. Looking back at these photos allowed me to appreciate the pictures as I would someone else’s work. Having a thoughtful review of these photos allowed me to see them in a new light, re-editing them - or not - into an altogether better image. Applying new skills acquired in the months and years since the original photo was taken allowed me to truly reinvent these photos into ones I would be proud to show the world.
While archiving my photos and picking out my favourite images, I came to the stark realisation that many of my favourite photos were those where I knew the shot I wanted to take before I put the camera to my eye. Although, this may seem a contradiction to the ethos of street photography, which you would assume is off-the-cuff, spur-of-the-moment photography. These photos were taken with intention. That is not to say that you cannot take a good or pleasing picture which happens to be a snap; generally, these photos have come about because of a specific action taken with a defined outcome in mind.
Intentionality, in this context, is the practice of purpose. Knowing before the action the desired outcome and having a clear and defined process to achieve this. It is a principle you can apply to almost all tasks. I believe it has improved my creative work tenfold, facilitating a creative process which has allowed me in a short space of time to create work which I am proud of, work that I hope will lead to my first exhibition - perhaps - or new commissions or publications in magazines I admire.
Intentionality, in this context, is the practice of purpose. Knowing before the action the desired outcome and having a clear and defined process to achieve this. It is a principle you can apply to almost all tasks. I believe it has improved my creative work tenfold, facilitating a creative process which has allowed me in a short space of time to create work which I am proud of, work that I hope will lead to my first exhibition - perhaps - or new commissions or publications in magazines I admire.
The retrospective look at my portfolio showed me that taking more photos was not the answer to better photos. Granted, statistically, you are more likely to take better pictures if you take more- but that is simply a numbers game. Taking a photo with intention has created most of my favourite and (subjectively) best I have taken. Recently I have been putting this into practice. I am limited to the number of photos I can physically take by the use of analogue cameras. Throughout my projects over the last three years, you can see a marked reduction in the number of photos taken per session and an increase in the amount of “keepers” you can visibly see the intentionality creeping into my work as I was less focused on the technical know-how and more able to focus on the art itself.
Intentionality is a practice I have consciously inserted into many aspects of my life with excellent results; creatively and professionally, I hope this short piece of writing may inspire you to look at the tasks in your life more intentionally.