You gotta put it down on paper. And forget about perfect. There ain’t no such thing. Just do it. There is no perfect time, either. Just now. Shoot it, edit it, sequence it, print it, and get out your favorite glue and let’er rip. Those of you who know me know I keep a notebook. Several, in fact. At all times. I just finished one and have started another. Just back from Maine and New York with new imagery ready for the page. Back in proximity of my printers, the larger ones, and a matter of minutes later, these prints emerge. Chosen semi-randomly. There are many more, but this is enough for now.
Yes, some of the prints are crooked. That’s okay.
These photographs represent the “before” pages, before I begin writing and writing over the images. I might glue more things in or just add notes. There is no plan. There is only doing and doing every single day. Could be five minutes or an hour. I might write fiction or write down the conversation around me. I can’t tell you how important this has been to my career. I can’t tell you how many ideas have emerged from these pages.
I typically use two kinds of journals. The first comes from Blurb. I do a shoot or teach a workshop, and return with a new body of work. I randomly select a group of images and then lay them out in the Blurb software. I then mix up the background. Grid, spot grid, lined, blank. Then send off for printing. After I receive the book, I begin to “work over” the pages. I also use BaronFig journals, as you see here, and I treat and use them the same, only I don’t send them off to be printed. I just print and glue from home.
Sometimes it takes a few weeks to complete a journal, and other times it takes a few months. Again, there is no plan and no rush. Also, these books are not made for you; they are made for me. They are not a performance for an audience. The audience is exactly ONE person: me. This might sound unfamiliar, especially if you have spent your career performing or posting on social. This is an internal creative practice. The other things are external and will turn you inside out if you aren’t careful.
The best creatives I’ve ever met keep journals. Just writing this sentence brought back a flood of memories detailing encounters all over the world. Strange moments, if you will, of walking in somewhere and seeing someone else working on their notebook. This covers finance, tech, photography, writing, science, and adventure. Those with a CAT5 mind looking for a place to unload. Somewhere to contain the thoughts, ideas, or voices. If you haven’t done this, start. Start today. Right now. No matter the journal, pen, your desk setup, your jacket or the perfect music. None of it matters.
Comments 20
Yes! Similar message with meditation. Preconditions only get in the way. Any place, any time, any condition, just create. Thanks for the reminder
Author
Sounds easy, but for most of us….a challenge
I’ve struggled with journaling for years because of perfect: I was decided to never miss a day, so I spent a crazy amount of time getting back to the days I missed and killed spontaneity.
Now my only perfect is to write in a clean way so I can read it easily later, and try to stick things straight, but if not, well who cares. When I read entries from a few months/years back and remember thoughts, doubts, good times, or find a great picture of a great time for my kids, that’s when I find it’s actually perfect.
Journaling is the most underrated/misunderstood thing ever, but seeing my kids writing in their holiday journals every day alongside me while on our trip in Italy made me think I did it right (and for the first time ever, I was not interrupted while writing).
It also teaches you about the importance of doing things straight away, be it writing when you think about it, or just managing and editing your pictures every evening.
The only problem I have is choosing the right tool: most of the time it is my beloved traveler’s journal, but sometimes I love the Leuchtturm notebooks, and these past holiday I tried the iPad only with Goodnotes and the pencil (works OK but I think I will lose these notes somehow) and the Apple Journal App, which has some things right and some completely wrong, and I most of the time use it as a notepad for saving thoughts.
But forget perfect, I agree 100%.
Author
I was in Maine and having lunch at a small restaurant near the water. I looked over and a family of four, with two youngish kids, were all reading paper books. I went up to them after I finished and said, “I just want to say how awesome it is to you see you reading and not scrolling on your phones.” The father laughed and said it was a battle at first, but now all of them are much happier. And expectation is the thief of joy.
Been doing this now for a short while and am seeing, shooting, and printing more before than ever…and really enjoying the process.
As for the writing part, if I miss days I feel guilty and don’t know why but perfection or completeness is not the goal (as I keep reminding myself). As Master Shi Heng Yi stated, “There is no right way, there’s just a way.” Take a step and keep moving forward.
I personally want to do more writing and not just my how day went or the deeper emotion stuff but any thought, idea, etc. Words elude me at times, work interferes, and the rat race along with stress push the missed entry out another day.,,,but pages will go in at times with a printed image. The journal almost becoming an album thick and getting hard to close. I don’t mind the bloat but would like to see some copy with it.
Love the thoughts you put down and share, always gets the wheels turning sir.
Author
You make a good point. Guilt. Maybe the key is to detach all emotion.
Dan, something clicked when you wrote about that guy who journaled while he lived in Africa (can’t remember the name). I told the story to my daughters and decided I should try to inspire them to keep a journal. Today, they do it amazingly well: when they travel or have something to share, they record it. In my case, thinking I would never develop a skill like that, I discovered that, in my own way, I had been writing and recording throughout my entire life, and what’s more, I still have them all saved—planners and notebooks from my teenage years that I keep in a trunk. Everyone has their own style—mine, for logging trips, remarkable events, and mainly for learning. I learn from what I write. I don’t use them so much to express myself or to create something from nothing. Thank you for sparking curiosity in people, and personally, for inspiring me to pass the habit on to my daughters.
Author
That’s the great thing. No right and wrong. Whatever style you have is the only style you need.
Without this becoming a tech channel, I’d be interested in your experiences with various printers. You seem to have settled on mostly Canon. I have no experience with them but hear good things. Fo myself, I was squarely in the Epson world for a long time, having had everything from anm 18″ wide to a 24″. These things aren’t cheap, and the inks are just crazy. Print quality is fantastic, but it doesn’t take long to realize you need another room for all the supplies. And if you’re not printing all the time, the ink nozzles clog up and you need to go spend $1000 to get everything running again. Personally, I got out of Epson altogether and started sending stuff out for digital C-prints. I believe that is the best quality you can achieve, but you cut yourself out of much of the process and the time of trial and error, for better and worse is behind you. Plus, NOT cheap.
I see you print a lot of “good enough” stuff for your journals, and I like the idea. Have you considered gallery prints this way as well ?. I know you blah blah blah say you’re no longer a photographer, but if nothing else, doesn’t some of this belong on your own walls?
Author
There are lots of good brands, but Canon and Epson would be my top two. But I don’t make fancy prints anymore. I’m not shooting anything that would warrant that, and I don’t sell my work, and I hang the work of other people, but try to avoid hanging my own. So, these lower end printers, which look great, work for me. If I need a great print, I would go to a pro printer who lives within 5 miles of here.
Virginia Woolf noted, “The habit of writing for my eye is good practice. It loosens the ligaments.” Here’s to forgetting about perfection, focusing on an audience of one, and loosening those ligaments!
Author
Yes, swing for the fence!
I spotted a book in the library about notebooks, so, because I have some goals in mind for my retirement years, I procrastinated by deciding to read about notebooks, rather than writing in one. It was a great book, really inspirational and educational, and I would highly recommend it. For those on the fence, there are lots of inspirational figures from history in all genres, and some science on how writing things down works best. In my work as a library assistant, I regularly saw studies about reading print vs reading on a screen for students. (Print is best) I remember reading a study on group brainstorming sessions, with data as to how having a written hard copy of the group session, which shows all the additions and revisions, is far superior to typing it out into a document during the session. No deletions! Circle back to earlier ideas. Here is the book, which is divided up into easy to read chapters:
The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, by Roland Allen.
Author
Ha, I have that book!
OK, I put “The Notebook” on hold. 23 on 7 copies, so other people have had the same idea. I’ve journaled on and off for years, typically using a cheap notebook that was usually swiped from work, and whatever pen was handy. The idea of putting photos into a book, and getting it printed at Blurb, and then writing on the photos is a new idea, and sort of seems kind of sacrilegious. Some of those old notebooks get found in odd places, and actually reading it is difficult because my handwriting sucks. The blog is sort of a journal, in some ways.
Author
That’s really the key. Whatever works for you is what works. You can’t force it or you miss the point of writing. My handwriting is HORRIBLE.
I went back to a notebook journal in August, and regret not going back sooner. A simple Field Notes pocket notebook that went with me to the Washington coast, Central Oregon and Portugal in August. Filled with words and Instax prints. I’ve since started a new pocket notebook, and when this one is complete I may go bigger to 5 x 8.25 cahier journals to fit Instax Wide and 4X6 prints from my Canon Selphy.
Author
And isn’t it a blast!
What a wonderful idea… And it dovetails with my hankering to also make zines. Thanks for the inspiration!
Ray
Author
Zines are so much fun. Working on one now..