comes crawling a ghostly white, and I recall"----Bob Seger, from Like A Rock. ... Oh, how I yearned for those days and m
Willard Clay Photography NEWSLETTER #26--Recent Images (Catharsis) This is not a particularly easy newsletter to write, since it is airing out pent up emotions I have struggled with now for several years. In Newsletter #25 I mentioned the question posed to me, "Now that your life has been given back to you, how will that affect your photography?" That question shook my foundation and it took weeks of thinking about it before an answer was formulated, one my soul could accept. What I found is writing about it and "putting it out there" for all to see, it was a profound catharsis. Having said that, I want to complete the cathartic process by writing about it to finally come to peace with the question. For those not comfortable with "psychological laundering", delete this email and the next news letter will be photography oriented, but I have to do this. Note: I have many new readers and this newsletter is a companion to #25. The emotional turmoil has its roots in the success of my free-lance career that lasted twenty years (or so) before the advent of digital technology. I lived a magnificent life, freedom with nobody to answer to but myself and wife at that time, oh, and perhaps photo editors of course. Publishing books and calendars, and making a very good living in the process....nice life! Shangri-La! When digital technology took root and the marketplace was inundated with millions, now billions, of photographs, my stock photography career quickly evaporated. At least, as I knew it. And with that came a fierce internal resistance to the changes thrust upon me. When my life was threatened recently, of course the conventional doctors, as genius as modern medicine is at being reactive, wanted an organic answer to why this would happen to someone physically fit. "Shit happens" was not a good enough answer I suppose. But, two holistic health practitioners in my life said, "You went down because of the intense internal turmoil caused by your refusal to accept the changes in your life and you are fighting with them. If you accept and embrace the changes in your life the probability of that ever happening again will be minimal". Interesting variation in perspectives. Chris Aquino and I are currently teaching a master level class, "Invoking Inspired Images", where we ask the people in the class to identify what inspires them and create photographs inspired by whatever it is that inspires them. Music greatly inspires me, and I felt a bit tentative about sharing what follows, but we cannot ask them to do something we ourselves are not willing to do. Here are some lyrics from a Bob Seger song, Like A Rock (remembering the halcyon days of my career lasted approximately twenty years): "Twenty years, where'd they go? Twenty years, I don't know. Sometimes I sit and wonder where they've gone. Sometimes late at night, bathed in the firelight, the moon comes crawling a ghostly white, and I recall"----Bob Seger, from Like A Rock. Every time I hear those lyrics, coupled with his eerie guitar, I recall those days when I "stood arrow straight" and the scenes in Nature I was so blessed to witness and the
photographs I was able to create....and the career that followed in tow. Attached are the three images that accompanied the music, all photographs from the halcyon 4x5 days (Grand Canyon, Big Bend NP, Lake Superior At Sunset).
Oh, how I yearned for those days and my career, but lately something was missing. I had lost the enthusiasm to photograph. Why? I love to create photographs. And the irony was, and remember, this is a catharsis and catharsis is effective only if you are honest with yourself, I felt I had evolved into the best photographer I had ever been. But the "mojo magic" was not there. Then came that "question" from someone dear to me. The answer was I had tired of shooting the "obvious" and wanted to look inside and create what made my soul sing. Such were the images shared in Newsletter #25, along with explanations. But the finishing touch came in last week's "Invoking Inspired Images" class. I still had connections with the past and I want(ed) to leave a legacy, a book with the 50 images I would want to be remembered by. Not images an editor would select, but only those I would select for my legacy. In turning to teaching, I have witnessed an amazing growth
in our students and the work they are capable of creating has been a blessing beyond words. Someone in that class said in response to my legacy desire, "We are your legacy!" I was left speechless by the question I referred to earlier and I was left speechless with this comment. Hard to respond when there is a knot in one's throat and you are fighting to hold back. The person who asked the original question said to me, "Your composition classes have been a life changing experience for me". To her and the guy who made the legacy comment, you have been a life changing experience for me! Karma is balanced, the psychological laundry being aired is complete, and I now am at peace with my "new life", even though this has not been an easy newsletter to write....AND a great woman in my life (Lady Love) who is the glue that holds it all together! And I can now return to talking about photography issues. Blessed Be, Will
