10 Benefits Of Building Bodies Of Work

Creativity - Storytelling  Comment
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“There’s nothing worse than a sharp picture of a fuzzy concept.” – Ansel Adams

One image is an idea. A body of work is a way of thinking. A collection of singular (5-star) images doesn't create a body of work. Singular images prove your craft. A body of work proves your artistry.

Benefits Of Working In Series

The benefits of developing projects are many. When you learn to present your images as a focused series rather than a random collection of photographs, you'll feel more fulfilled and be more accomplished, developing a deeper sense of your goals, vision, and style. You'll be able to share your images with others more meaningfully and memorably, increasing the chances of publication, exhibition, sales, and collection.

More Images Make Images More Useful

How many images does it take to create a body of work? At least twelve. Think of what you can do with a number of images. 12 or more images can fill a portfolio box or an exhibition space. 12+ images can make an exhibition and/or fill a portfolio box. 24+ images can make a catalog. 36+ images can make a book. Thinking about these outcomes before you begin to shoot can be useful.

Less Is More

You want each body of work to be as strong as possible. Clarify the signal. Eliminate the static. It's better to present just 12 strong images than to bury those same 12 images amid a flood of weaker images. In any body of work, maintain a high percentage of your highest quality work (4 and 5-star images). This is particularly true of small bodies of work. With so few players to state, develop, and conclude a theme, you've got to make every one count. 

While weak work weakens strong work, less obvious smart or strongly felt work strengthens it. Images that don't represent your highest quality but still have integrity (3-star images) can be very useful for adding complexity, nuance, and context. Don't overlook these kinds of images, but limit them. Pockets of weaker images create eddies and lulls that can dilute or divert the flow of the main idea. Too many become distracting. To avoid this, punctuate or surround them with stronger images.

One of the benefits of developing a body of work is that you make relative comparisons between many of your images, learning which of your images are stronger or more interesting, what makes them that way, and how to make more in the future.

Theme

What separates a few great images with style (how you say what you say) from a body of work is vision (what you have to say), which gives style purpose. (See The Differences Between Vision & Style.) You'll find out what your voice (vision and style combined) is when you develop a body of work as it reveals your themes (enduring preoccupations). When you develop your themes, you go further and dig deeper. >


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Let Why You Draw Determine How You Draw

Drawing, Technique - Drawing  Comment
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If I’m trying to make a drawing that looks good or one that is good to look at then the hour I spent making this is well spent but if drawing requires that much time I won’t draw often.

If I’m drawing to record ideas, this is a much more efficient way to draw and so I’ll draw more.

“Make things as simple as possible – but not simpler.” – Albert Einstein

 

In their wonderful book Art & Fear Ted Orland and David Bayles share a story.

A daughter asks her father, “What did you do today?”

“I taught my students how to draw,’ he responded matter of factly.

She gasped in amazement, “When did they forget?”

I find that when I ask people if they can draw the number of affirmative responses is directly related to age. The younger you are the more you know you can draw. So what happens when we grow up? We are taught a terribly limiting understanding of the many things drawings can be and do.

With a unidimensional vision of what drawing is, we are trapped by someone else’s limited vision of perfection that is further complicated by comparison to others.

We can all draw. Note that I didn’t say we can or should all draw like Michaelangelo. It takes more time to develop the skills necessary to draw in some ways than others. And you probably draw a little differently than your friends who also think they can’t draw. But if you can read this (possibly even if you can’t), then chances are you already know more than one way to draw.

Drawing is many different things to many different people – and it can do many things for you. For Thomas Edison drawing was a way to visualize what didn’t exist – yet. He handed his team a very simple sketch to help them invent the phonograph. (As a draftsman he was no Leonardo but his limited drawing skills helped him be an even better inventor.) Words weren’t enough and he needed a way to visualize what they had never seen before but soon would in part because he helped his team visualize it with a drawing.

So once we understand that even doodles are just one of many kinds of drawings, we might start to reframe what makes a drawing good based on the purpose we intend it to serve. If all you’re looking for is a way to find and capture ideas, then the time it takes to render them realistically is wasted. (And who wants to waste time?) Moreover, for some purposes, the extra detail added may be distracting or, worse, confusing. (If I ask you where the bathroom is, and you start spouting extended passages of flowery verse, one or both of us might get wet.)

The kind of drawing I want to encourage you to practice as part of your creative toolkit is not about making good-looking drawings; it’s about making useful drawings. Drawing can be useful in many, many ways.

 

1. Imagine The Possibilities

2. Capture The Idea In What’s Picture Imperfect

3. Identify Possible Variations

4. Structure Stories With Storyboards

 

Read 4 Reasons Photographers Should Draw More Often.

Learn more in my photography and creativity workshops.