urinal with character ~ McSorley's Old Ale House / East Village, NYC (click to embiggen)
...I have continued to explore metaphorically the complexity of the human psyche and its inner threads to further investigate my relationship with the multiple intersecting factors that constitute the female identity ...
After reading the above, I immediately thought of this excerpt from the science fiction book I am currently reading ...
Being a famous artist in the Culture meant at best it was accepted you must possess a certain gritty determination; at worst it was generally seen as pointing to a pitiably archaic form of insecurity and a rather childish desire to show off. ~ from EXCESSION by Iain M. Banks
... as well as my all time favorite quote from Bill Jay:
...it's been quite some time since I read an artist speak eloquently and clearly about the world beyond his/(her) own asshole.
My reasoning for the above commentary is simple; the ideas expressed in the Banks excerpt are very much part of the basis for my book project writing inasmuch as they eveidence 3 notions which I believe are critical to becoming a "successful" (more on this idea later) picture maker:
1. re: "gritty determination". Bill Jay has also stated that "If there is a single factor which separates the best photographers from the wannabes it is the quantity of images which they produce. They seem to be forever shooting." Nuff written (for now).
2. re: "a pitiably archaic form of insecurity" - to be avoided at all costs. Does artspeak bullocks / blather / gobbledygook and the pictures associated with it from the Academic Lunatic Fringe bespeak a form of insecurity? Perhaps, but in iMo, using self / egocentric pyscho analysis as the driving force for making pictures most often results in mediocre pictures at best - once again from BIll Jay; "Formal education [in photography] has a lot to answer for. We have legitimized, sanitized, academized the medium until we are left with issues not substance, critical stances not action."
3. re; : "a childish desire to show off" - yet another to-be-avoided-at-all-costs. If one wishes to become a "successful" picture maker one must be making pictures for oneself, not for garnering praise and adulation from others.
If this entry seems to be a bit Bill Jay quotes indulgent, I plead "guilty". That written, my book will contain many quotes from many different sources. However, in the case of Bill Jay, I will end with yet another of his statements; "I talk a lot about photography. It's cheap because my supply always exceeds demand".
FYI, the picture accompanying this entry speaks volumes regarding my feelings about the Academic Lunatic Fringe and their slavishly adherent spawns' inability to speak clearly about the world beyond their own assholes.