I know it’s a bit of a cliché already, but I’ll say it anyway. We’re all artists. What is art but a personal response to the world around us, and a means of expressing that? Woody Guthrie once said something to the effect that our modern society is the first that pays professionals to make our music for us, and that’s true of other art forms as well. The role of artist has been placed on a pedestal, and has been treated as an almost holy position that only a chosen few can fill. But nothing is further from the truth. Each and every one of us is born with the spark of creativity and expression. That’s not to say the talent and skills are equal in everybody, but the spark is there. Skills can be learned. Talent can be encouraged and nurtured.
Kids know this instinctively. Just give a child a box of crayons and some paper and watch what happens. Picture after picture flies off the table, and before long the refrigerator is papered top to bottom with the latest masterpieces. It comes naturally.
Too often our artistic side is crushed over the years. We are taught through years of school to pursue more practical skills, to find a career, to prepare ourselves for a world of commerce and consumption. The arts, though not totally discouraged, are given short shrift, are considered hobbies and pastimes, but are seldom thought of as suitable options for adult life. Societal pressure, peer pressure, family expectations — these all further reinforce that attitude. As well-meaning as it may be, it can still be crushing to a young person. The message? Forget about art. You gotta have a real job.
Then, in most cases, comes marriage, that job, the mortgage, the responsibilities of modern American adulthood. Artistic aspirations get crushed even deeper into the dirt. Soon they’re buried and forgotten. A few may continue to pursue art as a hobby. Others might rediscover creative pursuits later in life. Most lose touch with their creative impulses altogether. Their voices are stilled. It’s tragic. A rare few don’t get sidetracked and live a life built around their need to create art. They’re the ones we commonly call artists.
I’m going to steal a couple of brief snippets from Andreas Feininger’s book The Creative Photographer
“It is this force which created our culture. I have seen it at work in others, I have felt it in myself. It defies analysis and reason. It is simply there, as elementary as the drives of hunger and sex, and it demands release…
…No one will ever know the number of talents crushed before they had a chance to develop, to mature, to give to all of us — victims of a system devoted almost exclusively to the creation of material wealth.”
That camera in your hand is a marvelous instrument. Get out there and use it. Use it well, and show us your stuff. You’re an artist. The world needs you.
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10 Responses to we’re all artists
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for your bookshelf
Ansel Adams: Letters, 1916 - 1984
The Daybooks of Edward Weston; Two Volumes in One: I. Mexico, II. California
Magnum: Fifty Years at the Front Line of History: The Story of the Legendary Photo Agency
Dialogue with Photography: Interviews by Paul Hill and Thomas Cooper
Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional
Focus: Memoirs of a Life in Photography
Witness in Our Time: Working Lives of Documentary Photographers
Excellent and powerful post. I can relate to everything you mention here. I’m not sure where the voice within me told me I was not talented or good enough. But it has stifled much in my life. I followed along with what society suggested. Like the quote and may have to read his book.
Thanks Monte. I’m glad you’re putting your photography out there for all of us to appreciate.
I feel this is one of the most important points in any discussion about art. Why do so many parents and other authorities discourage young people from pursuing a career in art? Because they blocked their own dreams or never explored their artistic side their entire life and have a belief that actualizing themselves in this society is not possible. Therefore they pass this garbage down from one generation to another. A good example of this working in reverse is in the example of a young man I know who started at Stanford this year as a music major. He has an incredible talent as a jazz saxaphone player. His parents nurtured and encouraged his sax playing ever since he started. The main reason this young freshman never heard anything like, “That’s great, but what are you going to do for a living,” is that his father was in a successful 1950s and 1960s rock and roll band called the Diamonds. The young man’s parents had a mindset that said, “Hell yes you can make a great living by being an artist.”
Thanks David. Stories like that of the young man are definitely bright spots.
My own daughter at 15 has already shown remarkable talent for music. She is also getting quite good, and original, with a camera, and is developing an interest in videography. Maybe the best gift I can give her is to simply be there to encourage her pursuits, make sure she has the instruments she needs, both musical and photographic, and to help build her confidence to continue to pursue her talents in spite of all the resistance she’s sure to encounter over the next few years.
Great post PJ. I can certainly relate to the part about aspirations getting crushed by daily life. It seems like a constant battle sometimes.
Yeah. It’s something I’m sure we all struggle with to some degree. Our society seems to be built on a one-size-fits-all model, and it can be a real challenge to break away from that.
Thanks for dropping by Mark.
I’ll echo the other comments, excellent post, PJ. Yeah, if we’d only just listened to our Mom’s…always putting’s our “art” on the frig. and then away to keep forever as something special.
Thanks Earl. It is something special.
Awwwww, come on PJ! I’m just now starting to feel comfortable calling myself a photographer. Now I’m an artist? Oh boy. :0
You’ll get used to it…