Last evening, I had my first law school class. I’m taking one course over the summer–sort of an introductory “how to be a law student” with special emphasis on some constitutional material. The only people older than I in the room were the professors (it is a team of them), but I really didn’t care–I was excited to be there, and a bit intimidated by the workload…already.
We had a couple of readings to prepare before our first class, and I was struck by something in them. Over and over the authors referred to the Art (cap. A) of the Law (cap. L). Then the lecturing professor said something to the effect of this:
Does understanding the rules of color (for example)–blue plus yellow equals green, etc.–make an artist an artist? No, that is but a small part of what it is to be an artist. It is the application of those rules, the interpretation of them, the ability to see beyond them and use them to create that makes an artist an artist. Same for the rules of law and being a lawyer. If you only learn the rules, you are only going to be a hollow shell of a lawyer. You must learn the rules, of course, but also learn how to use them and interpret them and go beyond them to the benefit of your client and, more importantly, society as a whole. Law, like Art, evolves, and we are the agents of its evolution.
This is something many photographers can benefit from understanding. It is not your tools that make you what you are. If you are relying on your tools, then you need to push yourself outside of that comfortable shell. Your abilities, your art, will only grow as you push yourself beyond your “rules” (in your case, your tools).
Think about how you list your abilities in your own mind–does your list look like a sales sheet from B&H Photo? Or does it include things like the ability to creatively solve problems or an understanding not only of light but of its absence, or a facility with making regular people comfortable in front of the camera? It is these non-technical things that will separate you from the herd of “shell” photographers.
Think about these things when it comes to your marketing–in emphasizing them, rather than the size of your backs and lenses, etc., you will be expressing the artist you really are. That will attract better clients.
Great post!