So, If every now and then you wake up with the passion to enter the fine art world, then the experiences Nicole has shared with us are your road map for the journey.   Most important of all is a comment she made : “It’s a humbling journey, the journey of self discovery.”

Nicole, you’re an inspiration.  Thanks for sharing!

In the past six months, I have entered another world of photography.  Since I started my career in 1996, I thought by now I would have a grasp of the ins and outs of this business, but as I quickly discovered, the fine art world is an entirely different realm of photography.

When I was studying for my MFA at Columbia, I was reminded daily of the journey as a fine art photographer.  My professors were working artists themselves and we were fortunate to have some of the top fine art photographers lecture and teach classes at my school.  I remember sitting in a lecture led by Nan Goldin and realizing two things: you need to demand a response from your viewers, and what you have to say about your own work is equally as important as the story the image itself is trying to tell.  I worked at the Museum of Contemporary Photography and literally touched some of the most prominent work in our culture to date.  However, even through all of this and after all these years, I am just starting to understand the magnitude of what it means to be vulnerable in your art and how to really embrace the essence of who I am as an artist.

This journey all started because I have about 15,000 images from a project I have been working on for five years.  This past November, I was sitting at my computer after my sixth trip to the Northeast to photograph. I was editing, and said to myself, “What the hell am I doing with all this work?”  I knew it was time to discover the answer, and for four weeks, I edited through the photographs.

I narrowed the 15,000 down to 238 and literally had no idea at that point what I was looking at.  I knew I had reached the place where someone from the outside needed to weigh in — I needed to find an editor.  I was lucky enough to be introduced to the famed Mike Davis (http://www.michaelddavis.com/) through a dear friend. Listing his credentials would take an entire page, but I knew that anyone who edited for years at National Geographic, among several other places, could surely do better than me when looking at my work.  He taught me several things, but most importantly, qualitative thinking!  This basically boils down to the creative process and breaking your images down into five categories: color, light, composition, moment and distance from the subject.  He took those 238 images and narrowed them down to a solid 38 in a series that still blows my mind when I look at it.

After I had my 38 precious gems, with the other 14,962 patiently awaiting a re-edit, I needed to start presenting my work.   I had no clue how to do this or where to start, and the never-ending sea of galleries, curators and reps was beyond daunting.  I had a couple of friends from grad school that I called upon for advice — these photographers had been working in the fine art world for about 12 years, so I knew that they could lead me in the right direction.

“Who is your audience?” was the first question my friend Sama asked me. “Who do you want to see your work?”  Since the work was about lobster fishermen on the northeast coast of Canada, I figured that was as good a place to start as any.  I then emailed and called about 15 galleries/museums in Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, set up meetings with nine of them and took two weeks to personally show my portfolio to these individuals.  For myself, I thought it was important to make a connection and take the time to talk about my work in person.

Simply having representation doesn’t necessarily mean you will be a successful artist.  Many great artists are not represented, but truthfully, many artists without representation don’t ever “break out,” or at best, it is a very long road.  If you do look for a gallery, you need to determine what their intention is with you and your work.  Many galleries don’t have a mission that involves promoting your career as an artist; many are just interested in your commercial viability.  This is often called “living room art,” and the gallery is selling the work to their own specific client base.  There is nothing wrong with this and it won’t damage your career, but in the meantime, a gallery also should be working hard at promoting you, advertising your work and getting it published.

This led me to my next and current hurdle, as I waited for the right gallery opportunity, I needed to scream my name from the rooftops!  I needed to self-represent, get out there and find spaces willing to show my work, seek out joint exhibitions, solo exhibitions, get one image here, another there and move forward in this direction.  I also needed to be published — I needed press!  Fortunately, three of the images had already been published in PDN and one in Maine magazine, but I needed more.  You have to enter contests, submit press releases for shows, contact you local newspapers and periodicals, take advantage of blogs and talk, talk, talk about the work.

If you do find representation, it is a different path for every artist. You just need to discover your own goals and be represented by a gallery that understands and is on board with where you want your career to head.  Sales alone are not a gauge of your importance; money cannot be your only motivation. Some of the most important artists don’t necessarily have the most “sell-able” work. 

Outside of the huge galleries, smaller ones will encourage you to be represented in different areas, find different regions to have your work seen, but don’t over-saturate yourself.  In art, there is something to be said about exclusivity and rareness — too rare, no one knows you; too over-marketed and you appear cheap, with no real value.

I have mounds of information I could share and will continue to do so as I plunge forward.  I have recently had the pleasure of being represented by a wonderful gallery in Maine.  I have had three joint exhibitions since March, a solo in Canada in August, another solo in Maine in October, and a nine-week traveling exhibit starting next April 1st.

I am exhausted by this process, but utterly elated by what I have discovered… myself!  I have finally reached a place in my career where I am fully aware of what I want to do with my photography.  It’s a humbling journey, the journey of self discovery.  When you finally take the time to really look at yourself and your work, there is and incredible sense of self fulfillment in that.  If you are at that place and you know that you want to start the process, don’t hesitate.  Don’t be afraid of failure, embrace the opportunity to discover another part of yourself and to create work that allows the viewer to see the very best of who you are as an artist.   Nicole Wolfe, June 2010

So, to you my Saturday readers, who tend to be more serious, if for no other reason, you’re reading the blog on the weekend, I’d like to extend the first invitation to participate.  I’d like to make at least one day a week, Open Forum on the blog.   I can’t promise everything you send me will get published, because I’m not about to give trolls a new forum, but I’ll do my best.  We’ll also use Open Forum to answer specific questions.  I may not have the answers, but I’ve got an amazing network of friends and associates who do and they’ll be here when we need them.

Rather than use the blog for Open Forum, just email me at skip@mei500.com and let’s crank this thing up to the next level.  Monday, we’ll do our first Open Forum with a terrific post from Nicole Wolf called Discovering Your Authentic Self.

Thanks for being a part of Skip’s Photo Network – have a wonderful Easter weekend, enjoy your family and remember to hug them all at least once a day.  They’re the reason you’re here and no career field focuses (pun intended) on your family more than photography.

The best part is putting a voice with images – email just doesn’t cut it when you want to check out somebody’s spirit and their passion for the craft.  Their images might look terrific, the ideas they present are exciting, but you need to either pick up the phone or meet them in person – that’s when the fun really begins. 

This morning, meet Nicole Wolf.  I saw her images, we talked on the phone, but I had no idea how her guest blog would become one my favorites to date.   What I’ve enjoyed most is learning how she’s influenced by other photographers and stays focused on special projects to keep her creative juices flowing. 

I wrote about Jason Groupp’s NYC project a few weeks ago.  In the next day or two, registration for the 2nd Annual Skip’s Summer School is going to launch and Kevin Kubota’s program is, “The Power of the Project”.  In PDN’s Focus on Weddings, I interviewed Jonathan Canlas, who talked about being influenced by photographers outside the wedding industry, commercial shooters like Chuck Close, Craig Cutler, Alec Soth, Stephen Shore and Andreas Gursky. 

Nicole’s guest post is a perfect example of a quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson, that I’ve paraphrased and butchered to death over the years…”I am a part of all that I have met!”   Time for me to shut up and just turn it over to Nicole!

One of my favorite quotes is by Cecil Beaton, “Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary.”  How can you read this quote and there not be a fire under your butt to create work that is innovative and forward thinking?

I said a long time ago, when we took on wedding photography as part of our business, that I never wanted it to get to a point that we were stuck in the middle.  Mediocracy in my opinion is the easy way out.  It’s easy to have a formula. It’s easy to follow the crowd.  It’s easy to do the same shots week after week.  It’s easy to never experiment with light and it’s easy to play it safe. 

What isn’t easy is thinking for yourself, stretching the possibilities of your own imagination, creating a new way of being, pushing your limits, taking risks, to be thought provoking and inspiring.  Remember, you are only as good as your last shot!

The question always asked of me however, is “How do you do that?” “How did you think of that and what was your motivation?”  The answer is easy, look outside of your comfort zone and create work that exceeds your own expectations. 

I have worked in the commercial photography and design world for about 15 years. Since being a part of the wedding industry I have noticed something, wedding photographers create a bubble for themselves and stay inside that bubble.  You can’t expect growth if the only thing you are inspired by are other wedding photographers, if the only workshops you attend are lead by other wedding photographers, if the only photos you look at are by other wedding photographers and if the only imagery YOU shoot is wedding photography.  Don’t get me wrong, there is amazing talent out there and things to be inspired by in the wedding field, but that should not be our only outlet for creative thinking.

It is so important to create work that relates to another part of yourself.  At SOTA Dzine, the work we do commercially pushes the boundaries with lighting and concept.  I think it is so important for wedding photographers to not just shoot available light!  So what if you have never studied it or taken a class. You can learn by experimentation, assisting for a photographer that does and READ.  The only way to move forward, especially in this day and age, is to push yourself with your lighting techniques.  Take advantage at WPPI and the other trade shows to talk to some of the lighting vendors and invest in something new.  Also, concept is key. Study and research movement, fashion, expression, composition. Then implement those learned skills in a new way of seeing into your own work.

Ever since grad school I have also understood the importance of a personal body of work.  This is not a paid gig. There are no clients involved. You may or may not ever show it to anybody else, but it is yours!  It allows you to take your work to a place that is vulnerable.  Where you are not being judged on whether you got the right shot or produced the perfect photograph. It is raw, organic and real.  Figure out what you want to say. Tell a story or discover a new way of seeing. Allow yourself to make mistakes so that you can in turn create something inspired. 

We, as artists, need to be open to the possibility of failure and from this nourishing ourselves. You have to  recognize your need for growth.  This is an amazing way to grow through your work and in turn apply this to your paid gigs!  SOTA has seen this play out many times with booking commercial clients who hired us for their wedding photography and visa versa. One of my new favorite outlets for wedding photographers is Will Jacks, Chris Williams and Sarah Hodzic workshop called “Rebirth.”

All in all, don’t get stuck in the middle.  When you look back 25 years from now at your body of work, you want to be elated by what you accomplished and how you never let yourself be commonplace. You pushed the envelope, never rode on anyone’s coattails, and made your own mistakes. You earned your own successes!

Make an imprint in the industry, take risks, do it for yourself and for your clients!

Nicole Wolf

The images shown represent Sota Dzine well and the style offered to their wedding clients, commercial clients and a personal art image from Nicole’s project on lobster fisherman.   But for me personally, the most fun comes out of Nicole’s constant quest to make her work look different and push that edge of the envelope she wrote about!