I think a lot of photographers might not know Paul Arden, although they should. Er, they should have. Unfortunately, Arden died a year ago (I missed that news until today).
He was a brilliant creative mind, Creative Director, and he affected advertising globally. He thought. He thought a lot. And his thoughts have influenced so many creatives directly, and the world indirectly. Read this other post about him and read every link…especially the notes from his talk. Good stuff in every bit. Just look at the titles of his books. No, actually, go read his books, too.
Here’s just one bit from one of those links–part of an interview–that I particularly like. It’s about the need to specialize…and note how he connects that to quality and desire…
If you decide you are going to be the best of what you want to do, you will be the best of at you want to do. If you decide that you will be the best writer in the world, you will be the best writer in the world–at least pretty close to it. But you can’t be the best painter and the best director and the best writer at the same time. You can’t do all that. If you want to do that you are trying to be famous. You can’t do all these things. You can’t do all those things and be brilliant in all of them. You just want to successful, make money, be rich and famous. And being famous is very nice. I would like to be famous, but not at the expense of not doing something incredibly well. Too many people don’t give a damn about quality, all they want I glamour and riches.
Wise man. Will definitely be missed.
My friend Åsk has also posted this song/video tribute. Even if you don’t know who Arden was, it is moving…thanks Åsk: