This Year Choose Your Top 12 Images - Part 1
I have chosen my Top 12 b&ws for 2019, but I still have 18 in my Top 12 color photos. I am having a hard time making the final choices. I am printing small copies to see if that helps.
How many pictures do you take in a year? I can guesstimate because of the way I manage memory cards. I probably fill about 300 gigs of memory cards. My files are 20 MG so I take about 50 pictures per gig for a grand total of 15,000 pictures per year. I would guess that I am in the middle of the pack of serious photographers relative to the number of pictures taken in a year. When I think about taking 15,000 pictures, I find this quote from Saul Leiter amusing, “If I’d only known which [photographs] would be very good and liked, I wouldn’t have had to do all the thousands of others.”
Photo by Antonio Trincone. Used with permission.
The best part of this week’s blog is that I get to post pictures that some of my favorite photographers have identified as one of their best of 2019. The first photographer, Antonio Trincone, I came to know because he is an Admin for the Facebook public group, Street Photography Vivian Maier Inspired. You can see Antonio’s gallery on Facebook at Antonio Trincone and get more information about him here.
We do take thousands of photos and that kind of quantity leads to all sorts of organizational problems. How do you keep up with post processing? Where do you store the images? What system do you use to keep track of them? How are you choosing and identifying your best pictures?
I think there is a project that helps force you to address many of these issues. That project is a commitment to choose your top twelve images in the upcoming year. Originally, I was thinking Top 10. However, street photographer and blogger, Eric Kim, has suggested that it is reasonable to expect to take one good photo per month and one great photo per year. That makes sense to me.
Why should you do this?
Geoff Scott, who teaches at the School of Visual Arts NYC, describes the process of choosing your best images as a way to develop and understand your personal style. It comes from the hundreds of decisions, both large and small, that you have to make in choosing your Top Images. Your style has explicit aspects, like always working in black and white but it also includes intangible aspects, like your motivation and goals in taking photography. He reminds us, “Viewers want to see you in your photographs as much as they want to see good photographs.”
If you think there is any chance you will want to become a professional photographer, this is a skill you must have. You will have to assemble one or more portfolios to show clients when you seek work. When you shoot for a client, you may have to choose which shots are presented to them because too many choices might not be useful for them.
Photo by John Carnahan. Used with permission.
John is not a conventional street photographer, at least in his choice of equipment. He uses a big “ole” full frame camera with a pro-quality zoom. His street portraits are breath taking and absolutely tell stories. I am placing this post here because I can imagine the day he becomes a professional photographer. In fact, he may already be one. Last summer he was recruited to take pictures for the minor league baseball team, the Aberdeen Ironbirds. You can see his Instagram gallery at @jacahan.
I am increasingly interested, not in single images, but a collection of story telling images. Choosing the top 12 is a good project to practice choosing photos.
Photo by Ana Lucia Ciffoni. Used with permission.
I have featured Ana’s pictures in two blogs. One was a minimalist photo and one was an abstract photo. She is a street photographer with an amazing range of skill. I have placed this photo in this particular section of the blog for a reason. I am encouraging Ana to formalize a project called “Faith”. She has already posted a number of pictures that would belong in such a project. With thought and a lot of work, because serious projects take both work and thought, I absolutely believe she could be a contender in next year’s Paris Street Photo Awards for a series. Just saying. You can see Ana’s Instagram gallery at @anaciffoni.
Finally, if you think you might ever want to publish a book, choosing the best photos is an essential skill.
Exercise
If you are a street photographer with a Facebook account, I encourage you to consider joining the Facebook group, Street Photography Vivian Maier Inspired. This group has splendid activities each week including a critique day, a series day, a weekly photography challenge, and a blog day. The quality of the posts by members of the group is phenomenal.