5 things that suck the fun out of photography ^
Kurt Russell Theory
I’ve recently applied a new vision to my personal @willmalone instagram account, based on a lot of what I talk about on this podcast. I figured I need to be practicing what I’m preaching. It’s a reminder that this podcast is often, mostly, me in dialogue with myself. If no one listened to this project, I’d keep doing it for my own personal benefit. Talking ideas out is a good thing.
But I’m applying a new vision to anything with Will Malone in the title, and catching back up on the work that I left unfinished in 365 Strikes Again. (You can listen to that episode if you’re behind, I’m not going to rehash it here). So, starting with my @willmalone Instagram account, it won’t be about selling or linking to work I’m doing, but rather, it’ll just be me documenting life in a fun, sort of surreal way. I want it to be a creative exploration and done for pure enjoyment. If you want to follow The Small Town Photo Project, I’ve now begun moving that to their own separate silos.
Anyway, so I was telling my wife about this, and I told her, that it’s weird that I’ve been avoiding dipping back into my double exposure stuff again, because when I give into it a bit, my engagement creeps up. She replied sarcastically with “Duh. I’ve been trying to tell you! Remember? It’s your Kurt Russell theory!”
Oh yeah. My Kurt Russell theory.
Back in 2011, I started this blog called The Blind Review. It was short lived, but it was a fun idea. Basically, I would close my eyes and jam my arm into a bargain DVD bin at Walmart or our local used DVD store in Chattanooga, and write a blog review of whatever movie I pulled out, no matter what. The first thing I ever pulled out to review was a double or triple feature of some old Kurt Russell movies.
I want to say the movies were Executive Decision and Unlawful Entry. And each movie was fine, but there was still something magical about Kurt Russell’s performance in these movies. No matter if he’s a superhero dad wearing a foam suit in a dumb Disney movie, a hockey coach, a killer stuntman, an evil planet, an eye-patch wearing action star who’s hobby is escaping from large American metropolises, or a generic government agent who guides a team of seemingly invincible street racers, Kurt Russell is great in everything he’s in.
So what’s his secret?
He always looks like he’s having a blast.
That’s the Kurt Russell Theory: People are instantly sold on anything you do as long as you are clearly having fun doing it. People love seeing other people love things.
People can also smell when we aren’t having fun, which means, they won’t have fun either. If we look bored, the audience will also become bored.
Like I’ve said before, I think the internet puts too much emphasis on finding our passion, because many if not most people will go their whole lives without feeling passionate about something, and yet feel a pressure that they are wrong for not having a passion. There’s nothing wrong with not being passionate about something, but I would argue, if you do have a passion for something, it is your responsibility to protect that fire and keep it fed. (Unless you’re like Dexter Morgan or something)
If we burn ourselves out, we kill it for everyone. We let our audience or customers down. They are there to feed off our excitement, and when we aren’t excited, it’s kind of a bummer and disappointment for others.
Remember what I said about the key to being successful? It’s about making the best thing we can make, and then go out and be kind to people. Keeping our passion up helps us continually make great work, but it also is simultaneously a kindness in a weird way. We are sharing our energy with others, which gets people excited in their own lives. It’s inspirational.
How do we keep our passion going? Well one, beware of the things that threaten to suck our souls away. For me, it’s shooting weddings or doing real estate photography. All it does is drain me; I feel like I’m just a photo factory and my desire to make work totally crashes and burns. I quit doing those things in order to protect my passion better.
But here’s one of the biggest things: Don’t overdo it. When I get excited, I want to go out and work nonstop until I’m absolutely sick of it. It’s like eating multiple tubs of ice cream: I’d be better served if I just had a bowl tonight, so that I don’t feel disgusted by getting another bowl of ice cream the next day. Don’t eat too much all at once.
But also, make sure you’re consuming the world around you. If you’re not constantly taking in other art or photography, you’re isolating yourself. As Rick Rubin says in his new book The Creative Act, creativity comes from outside of us, not necessarily within us. Sometimes I go through phases where I don’t go out and shoot many new photos, I just watch a ton of movies or read a ton of books. That helps me recharge my passion.
We like watching people have a good time, because we all want to have a good time too. The moment it becomes forced or not that fun for us, is when it loses its magic for them as well.