I am
sitting here thinking about how I can go about
writing all these thoughts I have in my head.
Perhaps the easiest way will be for me to talk
about the things that motivate me - the things I
love, that really inspire me, and there’s a huge
list.
And in that list there will be things that inspire me to act because they are not all good, and I wish they were different, and there will be things that are superbly great that motivate me just because of what they are.
When you sit down and think about life we are, sometimes, able to grasp the concept that, in reality, our lifespan is pretty short, 80 years or so, maybe 300, or maybe even more if we so desire.
Ok so I’m being ambitious here, but I’m sure it’s possible. In the big scheme of things that's just a drop in the ocean, but it's a significant drop nonetheless.
And I guess that’s why it’s so important to be productive, efficiently productive, and to generate lots of good things, and be prolific - because time, our time, is a precious resource. We need to make the most of that time.
And if we are not making the most of our time, generally we will be experiencing degrees of tear-your-hair-out frustration.
Often when that frustration gets to the boiling point, we usually change quite rapidly. Note how easy it is to change when you really want to! That angst has been a motivational factor for me at times, along with all those other great things about life.
With me, I have always aimed or at least attempted to aim at keeping things pretty simple.
Photography was at first attractive to me in its simplicity, it’s basic-ness. Here was a tool that could capture an image with a degree of immediacy and accuracy, with results that were interesting and small enough to play with, yet contained within these little pictures there was a power or an ability to produce an image of much greater size and depth. Magical really.
It was easy to shoot pictures. It still is, and now thanks to the evolution of the human race we have the beauty of digital to compliment film. What always impressed on me as well was the nothingness of taking photographs.
In a way you are capturing nothing with nothing. Maybe that’s what the surrealists would say. It’s kind of like taking a small and minute slice out of life’s constant variety and everyday-ism. Just a little piece of that moment, that time, that place and that experience.
A little piece, snipped and stopped and held in time. And these moments are all around us, with everything we do, and everywhere we go.
I'm constantly amazed at the camera itself, I just feel it is such a wonderful, beneficial and remarkable tool. It is a little piece of divine magic. That tool was always going to be my friend.
From early days I remember seeing scenes of nature and life and people that were profound upon my vision. And my desire then, as it is still now, is that I wanted to capture that scene. I wanted to preserve it, to keep it. That could possibly have been the humble beginnings of a creative thinking artist.
And the great thing was that having a camera and knowing that the field of photography existed meant I could pursue that craft as a career. There was a future there. It was possible, people were doing it. Here was a tool which had the flexibility to allow me to create pure art (and in some cases create the starting point for further creative application) and create documents or records of life.
One of the thoughts I mulled over for a while seemed to be a big question. It went something like - what can I do with all this work I take? Where will it live, who could use it and who would want to use it? It was a pretty significant question for me, but fortunately I didn’t let that question or its long lost answer stop me from shooting constantly in a highly creative mode...
Because, as an artist, there's lots of unknowns. The blueprint to follow is, I’m told, a highly creative document itself, and and as an artist one tends to forge one's own unique style and way through life - it's very personal. It’s easy to get lost in creative expression if there's no structure to follow. I always said the blueprint to life was given out at birth but I lost mine on day one.
Nonetheless at the end of the day the bottom line was to keep shooting. But having structure there is really important. Knowing what you want to do is the key phrase here. Once you know that the rest is just pure application and role models and sowing the seeds for the future. Mind you, it’s a long journey to take, but of course, well worth the journey, even if it means jumping headfirst into the big unknown.
One of my early problems with the business side of commercial photography was a slow learning process from artist to commercial photographer. There was a lot of reluctance because I was so sensitive to the purity of my photography. But now I know that that purity and innocence is always there, it’s there with commercial and it’s there with fine art. It’s all creative.
I’d been walking around with my Pentax K1000 shooting snaps of anything interesting to me and now I was being asked to charge large sums of money for doing much the same, just a bit more specifically, and a bit more structured. I found it extremely difficult to put a monetary value on something so treasured and significant to me. This was my art, man. How could I do it? So, I basically did it for free.
Like I said, it was a slow learning curve. Everyone's happy for you to take photographs for them if you have an attitude like that. With time came wisdom, but I was still struggling with the business side. I’m sure the majority of artists will relate to that. I lacked guidance and I lacked mentors who had achieved success, although I’m sure there were plenty around. I didn’t know that’s what I needed. How would I know I needed it if I didn’t know that I needed it?!
I had inspiration in the form of modern and past painters, but trying to persuade anyone that my future career was going to be as a successful artist was creating some pretty hilarious situations. In some ways it’s probably a more difficult field to pursue than the other more common fields, but a huge chunk of us choose to do it.
This reminds me of a quote that landed in my mobile phone tonight, a load that is cheerfully borne, becomes light. I think the majority of people who choose art as a profession (and what a mighty profession it is) are, among other things, immensely passionate about what they do. Lots of emotions in that passion, and lots of charged passion in those emotions.
I know it’s not all light and fluffy clouds type of stuff, and I recognise that there are challenges that are part and parcel of it, but there’s some real joy to be had in pursuing art as a career. I mean, if you love creating, and you’ve got an opportunity to do it, then you'd have to be cheerful about that. And although everyone is creative, not everyone is harnessing that creativity or expressing it in the form as ‘art’ as we know it. It is really a unique gift.
To be able to bring this to the world with all it’s nuances and variables and differences to encourage thought and expansion of mind or expression of beauty is absolutely invaluable. And talking about beauty is probably a significant motivational factor for the whole basis of my work as a creative artist.
Maybe that’s what I am trying to do, make things beautiful, or record their beauty. I realise there are many elements of the same thing here, many sides to the same coin. Defining exactly what it is leaves me floating around for days deep in thought.
Ok, so motivational factors. It’s much easier to talk about the motivational forces at play on me, I’m sure I’m being bombarded by them pretty much everyday. As a strong visual person I can be easily moved by good design. I find it refreshing on the eye.
I’m attracted to the colours and fluid lines of the KTM range of motorcycyles, for example. You might note that motorcycles feature prominently in much of my work.
This has a lot to do with desires of freedom in the sense of freedom being closer to the elements, being able to smell the air, constant visual variables, and possibly the feeling of riding my own modern-day horse.
Dirt bikes strike a chord with me. To me, they are the ultimate urban assault vehicles in the nicest sense of that word. Somewhere in me, there’s a real road warrior who can see futuristic urban battles fought on dirtbikes in chaotic street environments.
Dirtbikes have got a solid uniqueness about them. And they are very practical. And then there’s the adrenalin thing. For reasons unbeknown to me, I enjoy the crazed madness of motorcycle stuntwork.
The success of good stuntwork has a lot to do with having a refined sense of balance. Or a refined sense of complete and utter madness. It also makes for a very powerful visual image.
Automobiles, although I enjoy the comfort of them, I find are somewhat restricting in terms of being able to clearly see what’s going on outside. But, sometimes sinking into soft luxury seats, with air conditioning and funky sound systems can be damn enticing. Hey what about an earth mover? That would be perfect!
The motorcycle theme mutates back to basics again. I like to use a moto because I find myself constantly looking around for interesting subject matter, and it’s often a more appropriate tool. And maybe that's what this comes down to, efficient tools of the trade.
And there’s another major theme that motivates me completely. And that is, my desire to be better, to be more comfortable, to be more efficient and to be more creative. Because I’m sitting here writing this and thinking life is pretty good, it's content-able, it's healthy, but, I know it can be even better. I know I can be better. I know my environment can be better. It can all be better!
And that is a somewhat gutsy motivation on my part. I know things will change, that’s the law of the land, guaranteed, the question is what do I want it to change into? What do I want to be? We all need to be asking ourselves that one, and writing down the answers, and acting on them. This reminds me of the quote: "unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." (Ronald E Osborn).
I know, it ‘aint that easy. It does involve serious thought. So if you were to see me today you would see me balancing photography projects with some solid goal planning time. How do I do it? Well, I borrow military discipline and procedures. I go into command ready or unit operational mode - complete focus on one project.
But I make sure I give myself adequate sweet tea (brew) time and health time when my body says time out soldier. Actually there's other things it says as well, like destination commander? And; On the move... Can do, Sir! When I have arrived at the specific location, it's location confirmed. And finally, with food and liquids observed, it's showtime!
Ok, obviously I've been way, way too close to gamers. But I do find it very beneficial to my productivity. That focused attention helps me complete the mission. Or at least provides the mindset to prepare for project completion. Well, anyway, that’s my quirky little way to go forward, to go beyond what I have already mastered. And that makes me think, um, what have I mastered?! Keeps me humble I guess.
So - mutating back to photography - I am in a northern part of Australia, on a Suzuki DR650, in the middle of nowhere and an intense thought comes galloping at me. Ok dude, so what are you actually doing with your time? This thought puts things into perspective. Well I had a self assured, brash and confident reply for that - I'm going around taking photographs.
And that’s correct, I was, but in truth the answer didn’t hold ground, and I knew it. It was too vague. There was passion in it. But perhaps not enough substance. I knew I wanted to pursue photography but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I guess you could say I didn’t have a clue. I needed to get my teeth into something substantial and challenging.
© Martin Hurley 2005
PART II A quantum leap from the the Pentax K1000 years.
Stay Tuned. On the move!
(Hey, about the title... Ok, so maybe I am... A little...)
And in that list there will be things that inspire me to act because they are not all good, and I wish they were different, and there will be things that are superbly great that motivate me just because of what they are.
When you sit down and think about life we are, sometimes, able to grasp the concept that, in reality, our lifespan is pretty short, 80 years or so, maybe 300, or maybe even more if we so desire.
Ok so I’m being ambitious here, but I’m sure it’s possible. In the big scheme of things that's just a drop in the ocean, but it's a significant drop nonetheless.
And I guess that’s why it’s so important to be productive, efficiently productive, and to generate lots of good things, and be prolific - because time, our time, is a precious resource. We need to make the most of that time.
And if we are not making the most of our time, generally we will be experiencing degrees of tear-your-hair-out frustration.
Often when that frustration gets to the boiling point, we usually change quite rapidly. Note how easy it is to change when you really want to! That angst has been a motivational factor for me at times, along with all those other great things about life.
With me, I have always aimed or at least attempted to aim at keeping things pretty simple.
Photography was at first attractive to me in its simplicity, it’s basic-ness. Here was a tool that could capture an image with a degree of immediacy and accuracy, with results that were interesting and small enough to play with, yet contained within these little pictures there was a power or an ability to produce an image of much greater size and depth. Magical really.
It was easy to shoot pictures. It still is, and now thanks to the evolution of the human race we have the beauty of digital to compliment film. What always impressed on me as well was the nothingness of taking photographs.
In a way you are capturing nothing with nothing. Maybe that’s what the surrealists would say. It’s kind of like taking a small and minute slice out of life’s constant variety and everyday-ism. Just a little piece of that moment, that time, that place and that experience.
A little piece, snipped and stopped and held in time. And these moments are all around us, with everything we do, and everywhere we go.
I'm constantly amazed at the camera itself, I just feel it is such a wonderful, beneficial and remarkable tool. It is a little piece of divine magic. That tool was always going to be my friend.
From early days I remember seeing scenes of nature and life and people that were profound upon my vision. And my desire then, as it is still now, is that I wanted to capture that scene. I wanted to preserve it, to keep it. That could possibly have been the humble beginnings of a creative thinking artist.
And the great thing was that having a camera and knowing that the field of photography existed meant I could pursue that craft as a career. There was a future there. It was possible, people were doing it. Here was a tool which had the flexibility to allow me to create pure art (and in some cases create the starting point for further creative application) and create documents or records of life.
One of the thoughts I mulled over for a while seemed to be a big question. It went something like - what can I do with all this work I take? Where will it live, who could use it and who would want to use it? It was a pretty significant question for me, but fortunately I didn’t let that question or its long lost answer stop me from shooting constantly in a highly creative mode...
Because, as an artist, there's lots of unknowns. The blueprint to follow is, I’m told, a highly creative document itself, and and as an artist one tends to forge one's own unique style and way through life - it's very personal. It’s easy to get lost in creative expression if there's no structure to follow. I always said the blueprint to life was given out at birth but I lost mine on day one.
Nonetheless at the end of the day the bottom line was to keep shooting. But having structure there is really important. Knowing what you want to do is the key phrase here. Once you know that the rest is just pure application and role models and sowing the seeds for the future. Mind you, it’s a long journey to take, but of course, well worth the journey, even if it means jumping headfirst into the big unknown.
One of my early problems with the business side of commercial photography was a slow learning process from artist to commercial photographer. There was a lot of reluctance because I was so sensitive to the purity of my photography. But now I know that that purity and innocence is always there, it’s there with commercial and it’s there with fine art. It’s all creative.
I’d been walking around with my Pentax K1000 shooting snaps of anything interesting to me and now I was being asked to charge large sums of money for doing much the same, just a bit more specifically, and a bit more structured. I found it extremely difficult to put a monetary value on something so treasured and significant to me. This was my art, man. How could I do it? So, I basically did it for free.
Like I said, it was a slow learning curve. Everyone's happy for you to take photographs for them if you have an attitude like that. With time came wisdom, but I was still struggling with the business side. I’m sure the majority of artists will relate to that. I lacked guidance and I lacked mentors who had achieved success, although I’m sure there were plenty around. I didn’t know that’s what I needed. How would I know I needed it if I didn’t know that I needed it?!
I had inspiration in the form of modern and past painters, but trying to persuade anyone that my future career was going to be as a successful artist was creating some pretty hilarious situations. In some ways it’s probably a more difficult field to pursue than the other more common fields, but a huge chunk of us choose to do it.
This reminds me of a quote that landed in my mobile phone tonight, a load that is cheerfully borne, becomes light. I think the majority of people who choose art as a profession (and what a mighty profession it is) are, among other things, immensely passionate about what they do. Lots of emotions in that passion, and lots of charged passion in those emotions.
I know it’s not all light and fluffy clouds type of stuff, and I recognise that there are challenges that are part and parcel of it, but there’s some real joy to be had in pursuing art as a career. I mean, if you love creating, and you’ve got an opportunity to do it, then you'd have to be cheerful about that. And although everyone is creative, not everyone is harnessing that creativity or expressing it in the form as ‘art’ as we know it. It is really a unique gift.
To be able to bring this to the world with all it’s nuances and variables and differences to encourage thought and expansion of mind or expression of beauty is absolutely invaluable. And talking about beauty is probably a significant motivational factor for the whole basis of my work as a creative artist.
Maybe that’s what I am trying to do, make things beautiful, or record their beauty. I realise there are many elements of the same thing here, many sides to the same coin. Defining exactly what it is leaves me floating around for days deep in thought.
Ok, so motivational factors. It’s much easier to talk about the motivational forces at play on me, I’m sure I’m being bombarded by them pretty much everyday. As a strong visual person I can be easily moved by good design. I find it refreshing on the eye.
I’m attracted to the colours and fluid lines of the KTM range of motorcycyles, for example. You might note that motorcycles feature prominently in much of my work.
This has a lot to do with desires of freedom in the sense of freedom being closer to the elements, being able to smell the air, constant visual variables, and possibly the feeling of riding my own modern-day horse.
Dirt bikes strike a chord with me. To me, they are the ultimate urban assault vehicles in the nicest sense of that word. Somewhere in me, there’s a real road warrior who can see futuristic urban battles fought on dirtbikes in chaotic street environments.
Dirtbikes have got a solid uniqueness about them. And they are very practical. And then there’s the adrenalin thing. For reasons unbeknown to me, I enjoy the crazed madness of motorcycle stuntwork.
The success of good stuntwork has a lot to do with having a refined sense of balance. Or a refined sense of complete and utter madness. It also makes for a very powerful visual image.
Automobiles, although I enjoy the comfort of them, I find are somewhat restricting in terms of being able to clearly see what’s going on outside. But, sometimes sinking into soft luxury seats, with air conditioning and funky sound systems can be damn enticing. Hey what about an earth mover? That would be perfect!
The motorcycle theme mutates back to basics again. I like to use a moto because I find myself constantly looking around for interesting subject matter, and it’s often a more appropriate tool. And maybe that's what this comes down to, efficient tools of the trade.
And there’s another major theme that motivates me completely. And that is, my desire to be better, to be more comfortable, to be more efficient and to be more creative. Because I’m sitting here writing this and thinking life is pretty good, it's content-able, it's healthy, but, I know it can be even better. I know I can be better. I know my environment can be better. It can all be better!
And that is a somewhat gutsy motivation on my part. I know things will change, that’s the law of the land, guaranteed, the question is what do I want it to change into? What do I want to be? We all need to be asking ourselves that one, and writing down the answers, and acting on them. This reminds me of the quote: "unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." (Ronald E Osborn).
I know, it ‘aint that easy. It does involve serious thought. So if you were to see me today you would see me balancing photography projects with some solid goal planning time. How do I do it? Well, I borrow military discipline and procedures. I go into command ready or unit operational mode - complete focus on one project.
But I make sure I give myself adequate sweet tea (brew) time and health time when my body says time out soldier. Actually there's other things it says as well, like destination commander? And; On the move... Can do, Sir! When I have arrived at the specific location, it's location confirmed. And finally, with food and liquids observed, it's showtime!
Ok, obviously I've been way, way too close to gamers. But I do find it very beneficial to my productivity. That focused attention helps me complete the mission. Or at least provides the mindset to prepare for project completion. Well, anyway, that’s my quirky little way to go forward, to go beyond what I have already mastered. And that makes me think, um, what have I mastered?! Keeps me humble I guess.
So - mutating back to photography - I am in a northern part of Australia, on a Suzuki DR650, in the middle of nowhere and an intense thought comes galloping at me. Ok dude, so what are you actually doing with your time? This thought puts things into perspective. Well I had a self assured, brash and confident reply for that - I'm going around taking photographs.
And that’s correct, I was, but in truth the answer didn’t hold ground, and I knew it. It was too vague. There was passion in it. But perhaps not enough substance. I knew I wanted to pursue photography but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I guess you could say I didn’t have a clue. I needed to get my teeth into something substantial and challenging.
© Martin Hurley 2005
PART II A quantum leap from the the Pentax K1000 years.
Stay Tuned. On the move!
(Hey, about the title... Ok, so maybe I am... A little...)
‘The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence regardless of their chosen field.’
"I'm Not Influenced By Weapons
Or Military Hardware...
Or Am I?"
Genius
is the ability to reduce the
complicated to the simple.
-C. W. Ceran
