“I want to get to a point with my photography,
that even if I tried to get as far away from myself as possible,
I would still be there in my own work.”
Everyone starts somewhere. And for the most part, we start by emulating what we like in others work. No matter what discipline, emulation is often the starting point.
As a photographer, turning up to the location of a photograph you love, can teach you a lot of things. Perhaps, the first thing you’ll learn is that the original composition that you admire, isn’t so obvious. The next thing you’ll possibly learn is that the scale of what you imagined the original scene to be is different from the reality. You’ll possibly also learn that you must use the right combination of focal length and distance from the subject to get everything to fit into the frame just like the original.
But perhaps the most important thing you might learn is, even if you do manage to make a shot very similar to the one you are trying to emulate, it won’t be the same.
Some things are a product of timing, and I would wager that the original image you so admire, is special because it was made under exceptional lighting conditions. The originator made the original capture because they were so motivated at the time, or at the very least, you are drawn to the image, not just because of the subject, but because everything else - weather, lighting, atmosphere, all came together to make something larger than the sum of its parts.
Although you may learn a great deal through emulation, it won’t teach you about making the landscape your own. That requires something else entirely, and it’s probably something that can’t be taught.
If you can reach a stage where you are no longer emulating your heroes, but instead, have found your own coal seam to mine, then congratulations. You have just reached a point in your art that few reach. Because finding a unique voice is a rare thing indeed. Many spend a lifetime looking for it.
I’ve given this a lot of thought. A unique voice does not come to everyone. It is an elusive thing, and if you do manage to find a unique look to your work, I am a firm believer that it will only surface over some time.
But that does not mean we should not try.
And I do believe that we should always endeavour to find our own point of view in the landscape. For me, the goal is to be able to find myself in the images I make.
So I think it better to make the landscape your own, and I know that is what drives me forward. A desire to find myself in the landscape. I want to get to a point with my photography, that even if I tried to get as far away from myself as possible, I would still be there in my own work.