Perfection, the act of striving towards something
I was perhaps playing devils advocate a few days ago when I listed all the negative aspects of perfectionism (there are plenty). But life is never black and white with clear boundaries, and certainly that can be more true in artistic endeavours.
So in this post, I want to talk about the positive aspects of perfectionism.
I would like to start by saying that if you are passionate about what you do, this means that you care deeply about the final result.
I would also add that you only release what you feel is your best work and strive towards making sure everything you do is done to your best ability.
Perfectionism if often about then end result. Making sure that what we output is good enough is really important to an artist who cares about his work.
Perfectionism is also responsible for setting a standard, making sure that we strive for the best we can do. In my own photography, I know that I am a perfectionist. I don’t want to release anything I can’t personally live with.
For instance, I had a very big calendar company approach me this week about putting a calendar together about Patagonia. They told me they loved what I do (I have to please myself first and foremost, so this is neither here nor there – this is perhaps another topic – listening to yourself and not caring what others think, positive or negative), but they said they wanted more images of Patagonia than were available on my site. Considering that I have more than 12 images of Patagonia on my site, which I felt gave plenty of scope for several calendars, I interpreted their request as ‘we would like to also see your sub standard images of Patagonia too’. Like I said, I only publish what I would be able to live with (we have to have our own standards), but it was clear that they didn’t care about my opinion about what was good or bad, which in some ways is ok because they may see something in an image that I do not, but overall, I felt that if I gave them the additional sub-standard images, I would be selling myself short. In other words, i would be selling out.
So I told them that the pics that they see on my site are the only ones I have for sale.
Perfectionism enables quality control. Without good quality control, we project a mixed signal to others about our own standards. I personally feel it is better to release a lower volume of good images than a lot of mediocre ones. Quality over quantity.
And that can only happen if we are perfectionists about what we do. Because if we are perfectionists, it means we care, and if we care, we are more than likely passionate.
I have this morning read with great interest all the comments on this blog regarding perfectionism. Perfectionism and perfection are both unachievable goals. Nobody is perfect. Striving for perfection is the same as striving for failure. The truth of this is difficult to accept.
So, what are us mere mortals to do? We must strive for excellence. Excellence is an achievable goal. We can produce an excellent photograph of a subject. Further, we can produce many excellent photographs of the same subject. Some days, we may judge one interpretation of the subject best, but on another day we may judge a different interpretation of the same subject best. And we were absolutely correct on both days! For us, one interpretation really was the best on one day, while another interpretation was really the best on the other day, again, for us.
We mere mortals really need to lighten up. We are incapable of perfection. He who strives for perfection dooms himself to failure and the accompanying frustration connected to failure. He who strives for excellence delights himself with a successful interpretation, or many successful interpretations of the subject.
Comment by kolson — 29 July, 2010 @ 6:07 pm
Hello Bruce – you are right and that is something I have to work on in the future. Moving from “good enough” to “as good as I possibly can”, going any extra mile if necessary. This will make all the difference and lift my photography to the next level. When I look at some of my images, I wish I had taken some more time to compose the image more carefully, instead of hitting the shutter button and move on when things looked acceptable. Quality instead of quantity.
Comment by pboehi — 2 August, 2010 @ 7:49 pm
I have this morning read with great interest all the comments on this blog regarding perfectionism. Perfectionism and perfection are both unachievable goals. No photographic subject is perfect. No photographer is perfect. Striving for perfection can only end in failure and the accompaning frustration that many have expressed in this blog, because perfection is not achievable. This is difficult for mere mortals to accept.
So, what are we mere mortals to do? We must, instead, strive for excellence. Excellence is an achievable goal. We can produce an excellent interpretation of a photographic subject. Further, we can produce many excellent interpretations of the same photographic subject. On one day, we may judge one of our interpretations best, but on another day, we may judge one of our other interpretations best. And, we are absolutely correct on both days, for us! For us, one interpretation was really best on one day, while another interpretation really was best on another day, again, for us. In other words, our judgement of what is best depends on us an the circumstances of the day. Our judgement of the excellence of our photography is subjective.
We mere mortals need to lighten up. We need to be aware of our human limitations. We are not perfect beings, so why torture ourselves by seeking perfection? He/she who strives for perfection dooms himself/herself to failure and the frustration that accompanies failure. He/she who strives for excellence sets an achievable goal of a job well done. More than one excellent interpretation of a photographic subject is certainly possible. No perfect interpretation of any photographic subject is possible. Notice how words like perfect and interpretation just don’t go together.
It has been said that the perfectionist accomplishes nothing, produces nothing. His work is never quite good enough for the world to see. He fears failure, so he never finishes anything, just so he won’t have to show it to anyone to be judged. What a tragedy! An excellent photographer produces many excellent images, and then shows them to no one. Excellence is achivable, and EXCELLENCE IS ENOUGH.
Comment by kolson — 3 August, 2010 @ 9:11 pm