Procrastination

Brooks Jensen was talking to me....directly to me. Well, that's the way it sure felt anyway! I am referring to his recent 'Editor's Comments' in the current issue of LensWork. His thoughts were particularly apropos to me and, I suspect, to many other photographer/artists.

The basic premise of his essay was that perfectionism is at the root of the problem many photographers have with actually finishing a project and calling it complete. The project that is finished opens one's work up to critique and thereby the possibility that it is not 'perfect'. The incomplete project can, of course, still theoretically become perfect work by applying further effort. Ultimately, Mr. Jensen continues, we need to be able to distinguish between 'theoretically perfect and practically superb' if we are to break this cycle that leads us to procrastination. Not a procrastination borne of laziness, but borne of fear.

While he goes on to offer sources of motivation to complete projects, which are also quite helpful and insightful, I found that it was the portion of the essay which clearly defined the issue that really spoke to me. It could very well be a chapter from the classic book 'Art And Fear'.

For me, this essay was very important to read and think about (in fact, I reread it several times)....and just one more reason to subscribe to LensWork if you don't already do so.