Sunday, October 8, 2006

Why all this?

"Making Art and viewing Art are different at their core.
[...]
To all viewers but yourself, what matters is the product: the finished artwork. To you, and you alone, what matters is the process: the experience of shaping the artwork."

[Bayles & Orland, Art and Fear]

I often ask myself what it means to me taking photographs. I do it almost every day, especially during the handful of spare minutes I've got while commuting from home to work and vice versa. Short time, maybe; for sure, not enough goodwill.

When I started making something to show what I was able to achieve with this dedication of mine, I was well aware that sooner or later I would have run into the need for an answer. I knew that someone was there, behind the corner, waiting to ask me: "Why all this? Why are you investing all that energy and time on photography, instead of applying to something else?"

I can't say if ever started thinking seriously to a good answer. Sometimes I fear that everything might end, once this process was completed. For the time being, before my mind changes again, I consider this practice a simple tool; it's a lever that allows me to give way to my instinct at doing something that relates me to the rest of the world, an instrument for stating: "I do this, I have done these, I'm about to do that ...", without placing my expectations too far.
So, instead of thinking to "how far" can I get with photography, I could start figuring out whether I'm able to move from where I am and begin the journey.