Justin Carey

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Sustainable Prospects: Week 2 Reflection

Justin Carey

"For me, I think the heart of making art is about trying to make some sense of a world that is so utterly chaotic and inexplicable. I'm not necessarily coming up with answers, but I'm looking. There's a kind of freedom in relying on our imagination to try and make something out of the chaos. But I don't think it's the job of art to entertain or offer reassurance. There are hard truths without easy answers. Maybe discomfort, in some way, can actually lead to illumination."

Katy Grannan, 2017

I'm not necessarily coming up with answers, but I'm looking.

Continuing the theme this week, we’ve been looking at the practicalities of getting a photography business off the ground – business plans, accountants and taxes, handling the realities of life as a freelancer etc. This is all new information to me and it’s been really valuable hearing the insights of working professionals in their respective fields.

This ongoing focus on professional practice has coincided with my own struggle to eke out a routine that accommodates my current photographic activities whilst also allowing room to develop them further, both creatively and professionally. One of my key personal objectives for this module is developing a method of approaching my work that isn’t hampered by the demands of my full-time job or other life events that may occur. I feel that developing a certain dogged relentlessness is a vital ingredient to becoming a better photographer and gives me the best chance of being a professional practitioner moving forward.

To this end, this week I’ve been thinking a lot about where the pressure points are in my weekly schedule that have made it so difficult for me to switch between my day job and the night photography in the past. Heading out on a shoot this week, I was struck by an incredible fatigue that didn’t allow me to stay focused or be creative at all. After being out an hour or so I returned home with a valuable lesson learned, about the importance of preparing the shoot properly, the importance of preparation of myself and my equipment etc. This isn’t a revelatory idea, but it’s more about the importance of standardising this into a routine that optimises the limited time I have and maximises the chances of me being productive when I’m out and about. I’m looking forward to taking the lessons forward into this week. One of my main frustrations with doing this MA while working full-time is the feeling that I could be doing so much better if I had more time and more energy to focus exclusively on the course. I often feel like my day job takes so much out of me that I have very little left to give to studying and shooting. Emily Stein’s quote from this week’s reading certainly resonated with me in this regard:

"After I finished college I worked part-time in a photo studio and assisting various photographers to make enough money. I think it’s really important that whatever work you get to support you, it will benefit or inspire your own work in some way. It is really easy to take on too much other work to make money, but this can end up taking up so much time that our own practice drops further and further into the background. So, I guess it’s about finding a balance between making money and making your own work so you can build a portfolio and start getting it out there."

Emily Stein, 2017

I’ve always struggled with the fact that my work overshadows my practice, sometimes just because of how involved and time-demanding it is. But as Stein states, it’s about finding a balance and that’s an absolutely key objective for me in this module. 

As the research continues, I’ve been repeatedly fascinated by the experiences of various practitioners. As well as an underlying passion that fuels the pursuit of creative objectives (which I discussed last week) it’s been interesting to hear about other elements that are deemed to be vital to success. I’d say there’s an essential doggedness that’s required, to keep pursuing your dreams regardless of the repeated setbacks and rejections that one may encounter. This determination has to be allied to a self-confidence that you have something worthwhile and interesting to say with your work, that justifies the battle to ensure that others can see, and hopefully appreciate, it. This quote by Sister Arrow captures that idea for me, of believing in yourself and working to prove your point:

"Tell yourself how great you are, and how great you are going to be. Even if the evidence doesn’t quite match up yet. It will ;-)"

Sister Arrow, 2017

In the following week I will continue working on the development of this resilient and productive professional mindset that will allow me a chance at a sustainable practice moving forward.

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