The one. A Saturday Walkabout

Downtown, Phoenix. 1/20/2018

When I first start walking the streets, the first couple of shots seem like practice shots, not in a groove yet, I feel sluggish trying to find direction.

This phase in the process can be somewhat discouraging. One would think that if you practice something enough, you know this is only a warm up and you can eventually fall into a creative groove if you keep at it, that the initial emotional reaction would no longer feel discouraging, but it does.

What comes with practice though, is knowing you have to keep at it despite the discouragement. I know from experience it is an irrational reaction, not conducive to anything good, and that I am able to produce work I'm proud of, if I just ignore it and keep at it.

In this process there's always the one shot that helps me switch gears. The shots before it feel off, I'm focused on keeping at it, keep ignoring the discouragement, and suddenly I find myself taking pictures of something, forgetting about everything else, and following it, its lines, colors and shapes..the odd set of circumstances it represents, the questions it asks me..I follow it and I suddenly find myself in a groove.

After this interaction, my discouragement's voice becomes so much smaller and more quiet. The self doubts it started to represent are no longer important. Who cares about this fleeting self doubt when there's good work to be had? I call these, The One.