RE: [Leica] Mid-life crisis ???

["B. D. Colen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

Hi, Henry - A question:
When you were shooting as a teenager, where you shooting because you felt
compelled to? Were you shooting because you want to create images of the
world as you saw it? Or were you shooting because you had time on your hands
and could fill that time by concentrating on your photography? I'm willing
to bet the former, rather than the later, was true. And I am also willing to
bet that the later, rather than the former, is what's now driving your
photography.

For whatever it's worth, try letting go of the idea that 'now I am going to
go take pictures,' and simply carry a camera everywhere. When you see
something that grabs you by the gut, shoot it. Otherwise, save your film. My
guess is that you will be allot happier with the smaller number of images
you get that way that you will with those you're getting now - which, if the
truth be known, are probably a good deal better than you think they are. ;-)

Good luck!

B. D.

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us
[mailto:owner-leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us]On Behalf Of Henry Ting
Sent: Sunday, September 22, 2002 11:30 AM
To: Leica-users
Subject: [Leica] Mid-life crisis ???



They say photography has less to do with technique
(which can be mastered by anyone if the desire is
there) but more to do with form and the ability to see
the world around us.

Well I remembered when I first took an interest in
photography in my teens, I was able to see all the
possibilities and quite frankly IMHO I was able to be
creative in "sight and form". At the time I lacked the
technique, but my mentors always comment on the
originality and creativity of my pictures.

Now 40 years later, since I retired recently, I went
back to my old love in photography. Now I have the
time of the world, travelling in different parts of
the world, I found the zest and the creativity of my
pictures are gone. All my pictures lack the snap and
form that I thought I used to have. While the
technical side of my pictures are good, but the form
and the image have nothing behind it. I was delighted
right after retirement when I first thought I could
pursue my love in photography is turning out to be a
disappointment -- to a point that after months and
hundreds of rolls of film, no picture possess the
image that I feel proud enough to even post on the
forum for any feedbacks. I'm indeed a little perplexed
and depressed. It almost seems like a similar feeling
of one reflecting what one could do both in physical
ability as well as perception in life during one's
youth, is now gone as one reaches mid-life. Could it
all be a case of too much of anything being
detrimental and I'm indeed going through a cycle of
photography overload ?

Any old-timers here ever gone through a similar
situation ?

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