For a while now, I’ve found myself thinking back on a trip spent in the Mojave Desert during the final days of summer in 2021. Me, my lady & some friends of ours rented a rad 1970s Airbnb right outside of Twentynine Palms. For me, this was going to be the first time exploring any of California’s deserts. Joshua Tree had been on my list for quite a few years at that time & I was excited to finally get to experience it with some loved ones.
Everything about the trip was magical (besides a health scare) & I was in an endless state of awe. My heart & soul felt so alive & so did my creative mind. I had read articles & watched movies set in these vast, resilient landscapes but getting to experience it real life was unreal & unmatched to say the least. It’s the type of place that i’d say is “easy to take a good photo of”. On that note, I did take so many photos during those few days & came away with a body of work that I felt was pretty solid at the time.
When I got back home & edited down the photos that I felt were worth keeping, I remember almost instantly starting to draft a book out of it. Perhaps it was the slow state of the world at that time–we were only a year & a half into the pandemic then–and the extra free time I had that made me feel like I needed to produce something tangible or “significant” out of that trip & those photos.
This is where I wish I had slept on that idea for a little longer.
Sure, the book came out pretty good & the response from everyone at the release party was rad (all 40 copies sold out in 4 days) but when I look back at the actual book itself..I am not that happy with it. For one, the book is fairly short (35 images, 50 pages) & there isn’t much substance to it in my opinion. I still think a majority of the photographs in the book are solid but they just don’t feel “book-worthy” to me. The sequencing was thoughtful on my end, especially considering the short window of time I spent editing the book but there doesn’t seem to be much of a story within its pages upon reflection. It was just a book of photos from a weekend trip I took with friends..that is all. Which is totally fine.
I do feel like the project could’ve been just as powerful if it was displayed in an online gallery layout on my website or even as an exhibition. Maybe others would disagree & again, I’m sure I am being a harsh critic but I think it’s important to learn from mistakes like this. The amount of insight & reshaped perspective you can give yourself by simply letting your work rest can be impactful & can bring out ideas you didn’t see or think of in those beginning stages. Those new perspective(s) towards a body of work can be the difference between a finished product that feels substantial or a rushed body of work with not much to it. If I could go back, I would’ve done things differently, more slowly. But then again, I have learned from that experience & I’m thankful to be able to apply that knowledge to future projects. In a way, I needed to make that book.
With all of that being said, don’t forget to share your work with people you trust. Take others’ perspectives into account but not too much. Find that balance. Print out your work & live with the images for a little bit of time. Ask yourself questions like:
“Could this project be stronger if I revisited those locations once more or a few more times?”
“Does this work belong in a tangible form?”
“Am I truly satisfied with this work?”
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If I had to narrow this experience down to one takeaway, it would be to not rush my work. But hey, at the end of day..all we can do is learn from our past choices & re-approach the way we make and see our work & then proceed to create something even better.