Above are notes I took during a presentation by Stephen Shore last week. It was the most enjoyable artist lecture I have been to in quite awhile. Stephen was very well spoken, shared a great deal of his thought/working process, and provided a lot of insightful commentary on photography and creativity. On top of it being an entertaining lecture it was also very inspiring. During the lecture and throughout the remainder of the day I was revisiting some past ideas and making plans for new projects.
Responding to a question on originality he said something along the lines of, "If you become too focused on originality you become just as tied to tradition as someone endeavoring to follow it." That is something I have been thinking about a lot on and off for quite some time, though not exactly in light of photography. It is fascinating how frequently people act responsively to actions rather than in accordance to what they would naturally do. I have framed it more frequently in terms of rebelling or acting out spitefully. It is interesting that such a seemingly childish action characterizes so much, from daily interactions with people, to lifestyle choices, to art movements.
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