Like the start athlete with loads of potential, the artist often finds themselves battling indecisiveness. Athlete Bo Jackson comes to mind. That guy could do it all. But football ultimately won out. How does one decide on just ONE discipline?
One only has to look at the creative output of Leonardo Da Vinci to see how one person can have interests in numerous disciplines. In Da Vinci’s case his output was matched with a masterful hand as if he had focused solely on each of his disciplines for decades. That’s rare indeed.
Surely you’ve heard the statement, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” That’s often the case for the artist who dares branch out into something else. I get it, we’re only given an finite amount of time so it must be used wisely and skills require practice. Practice demands time. So it’s understandable how one can attempt futilely to juggle multiple disciplines only to come out average at others and perhaps exceptional at only one.
As I ruminate over my own work, I often feel myself walking along a tightrope of multiple disciplines. Or perhaps I’m walking on a singular tightrope and juggling, but the more interests I have the more objects I’m given to juggle. If I juggle too many, I’ll undoubtedly fall.
*Me
It can be hard balancing it all and I used to find it very frustrating. Paralyzing even. To the point I wouldn’t put any work out. How would my beauty work feature alongside my nude work? Or my nude work alongside my swimwear work? On my website it’s very easy to categorize, but I find it awkward when trying to do the same thing on social media, especially Instagram.
However, because something is difficult, doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. Like the photographers I look up to, your Richard Avedons, your Irving Penns, they too worked in different disciplines. Especially Penn. He was known for fashion and portraits and still-life and nudes. Being considered one of the greatest and most successful photographers of all time, I don’t think he did too bad for himself.
So like Mr. Penn and many other artists with a similar short attention span and numerous interests, I will continue to juggle as I walk along the tightrope. If I were bad at any of the other interests I have, I would drop that object and no longer juggle it. I tried my hand at still-life years ago and the images were fine, but I wouldn’t consider myself good at it. I dropped it. I tried real estate photography and was just okay. Plus, I didn’t enjoy it. Dropped it.
But photographing people? I am good Rooster. I’m very good.
And I thoroughly enjoy it.
So I’ll continue to shoot portraits, nudes, swimwear, beauty, and street photography. I’m sure my audience of clients, models, photography enthusiasts, and art lovers can find the specific thing they like somewhere in that collage of creativity.
There’s something for everyone.
Life’s too short to place limits on ourselves based on degree of difficulty or plain ol’ fear. Yet it’s also too short to do everything. Like the person in my tightrope analogy, it’s all about balance.
It’s okay to juggle multiple disciplines. It can breath new life into you as an artist. It can keep things interesting. And maybe you’re good at more than one thing. Critics be damned.
But remember, you’re human, not an octopus.
Show off.
Hope you enjoyed this post!
