“You know what, Courtney? I don’t really know what “Gold Dust Woman” is about. I know there was cocaine there and that I fancied it gold dust, somehow. I’m going to have to go back to my journals and see if I can pull something out about “Gold Dust Woman”. Because I don’t really know. It’s weird that I’m not quite sure. It can’t be all about cocaine.” (Stevie Nicks interview with Courtney Love for Spin in October 1997)
[one_half padding=”4px 8px 0 4px”]Actually, Stevie, it probably is all about cocaine, either directly or indirectly. Coke is one of those drugs that takes over the mind after a certain point, distorting logic and reason and even turning the most creative thoughts into nonsense. This isn’t one of those songs where one can take a hit, lean back, and suddenly be thinking, “Okay, I get it now; that’s really deep.” Instead, one ends up grasping for the obvious, that the song is about love and someone (or something) that broke your heart, didn’t quite turn out to be who/what one had hoped. No, that doesn’t describe cocaine at all. Noooo. [/end sarcasm]
Gold Dust Woman is one of those songs that gets stuck in the back of your mind and you’ll suddenly find yourself humming it in the middle of the afternoon without realizing or even knowing for sure how it got there. Fleetwood Mac released the song as B-side filler and, as so often happens, it took hold and ended up selling decently on its own. While never getting higher than number 30 on the Billboard charts, it was enough to cement its place in the minds of an entire generation that, go ahead and admit it folks, at the very least dabbled in recreational drugs. Not everyone developed a dependency issue, but we have this song as one of the side effects that won’t go away and we’re okay with that. It’s a cool song.
This is the one time this week where the photo was actually taken to go with the song. Danelle French developed the concept for a Girls Of Rock series but because of schedules and weather this was the only song we did for the concept. We did three editorial looks on the theme, one of which I used as a Photo Of The Day earlier this year, and the team did well enough composing the looks that it is impossible to decide which one best fits. This particular image, though, is my favorite of the set. The dress has an inherent sense of motion and Jenn’s pouty look, like the song, could be love, could be the coffee, or maybe is just damn good posing. The photo fits the music and, like the song, stays stuck in the back of my head, resurfacing at the oddest times.[/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 8px”]Even though this is one of Stevie Nick’s most popular songs, it’s one of those where no one is quite sure of the lyrics until they get to the chorus, which may arguably be the strongest part of the song:
Did she make you cry
Make you break down
Shatter your illusions of love
Is it over now — do you know how
Pickup the pieces and go home.
It is that last part of the song, the line about picking up the pieces and going home, that may resonate the most because we’ve all been there in some fashion. Not everything turns out the way we want or the way we expect. Illusions are shattered. We pick up the pieces, retreat to a place of safety, and try again another day. Even when one is high that line is still good advice.
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Beware The Ides
DISCONTENT (2011). Model: Rachel
The same author who warned his Julius Ceaser to, “beware the ides of March,” (Julius Ceaser Act I scene ii) also has Polonius instructing Laertes, “This above all: to thine own self be true,” (Hamlet, act I, scene iii). Both are instructions that photographers and other creatives would do well to heed.
[one_half padding=”2px 6px 0 2px”]I have had work published in a lot of magazines around the world. There was once a time when we were averaging more than 20 new publications a month. Then, things changed. A lot of things changed, actually. The “digital revolution,” the “dot-com bust,” and the “let’s lay everyone off and hire contractors” movement. Business wasn’t handled the way it had been in the past. There were more photographers in the market than ever and occasionally one would even find one who knew what they were doing. Demand for creative talent diminished as stock companies flourished.
Then came digital printing and online magazines. Suddenly, there were new magazines popping up everywhere looking for, begging for, content with which to fill their pages. I would pass by more upscale newsstands and not recognize two-thirds of the banners facing me. I would pass by a month later and find a whole new crop in their place. Longevity didn’t seem to be in the cards for most new titles.
Being a freelance creative means going out and finding the work; it’s never going to just show up at your front door unprovoked, though that’s what many of us dream. We network in circles with which we’re less than comfortable. We push ourselves well out of our comfort zones. We play nice with people we really don’t like all that much. We do whatever it takes to get that plum assignment.
Then, we’re asked to work for free. Or at least, if not for free, for roughly a third of what our services is actually worth. We sit at our desks or on our couches and begin to wonder: is it all worth it? Why do I keep chasing something that seems to want no part of me?
Hello, self-doubt. I’ve been down this road enough times now I know it’s coming, typically mid-March just as things are starting to thaw. We have fashion weeks out of the way, we’re scheduling editorial shoots as heavily as we dare, and all the while we’re thinking, “Is it worth all the trouble?”
Shakespeare’s Caesar is warned against the betrayal of his best friend, Brutus. Perhaps the soothsayer would similarly warn creatives against the betrayal of ourselves. Once we begin to question whether we’re good enough, once we start wondering why someone else got a job we wanted, once we start thinking that perhaps we made a wrong turn in our career, we’re slowly but surely killing ourselves. We might as well be plunging a dagger into the heart of our creativity.
Not that some self-reflection isn’t occasionally necessary, and no, freelance creative work isn’t appropriate for everyone. Yet, when we begin doubting ourselves we betray the talent within us that leads us to be creative. Coming up with new ideas, exploring new concepts, stretching the bounds of our media, requires us to have faith in ourselves, faith in our talent, and the resolve to see a project through to its end, even if that end isn’t exactly what we had hoped when we started.
“This above all: to thine own self be true.”
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[one_half_last padding=”2px 2px 0 6px”]The commercialism of creative fields has created a sense of competition that, too often, is unhealthy. We begin worrying more about whether an image is commercially competitive rather than whether we captured the image we intended to take. When we look at magazines and see styles dramatically different from our own, there’s a temptation to change, mimic what we see is being published, rather than continuing to pursue and refine our own style. In short: we stop being true to our creative selves.
I was perusing through a stack of magazines recently, one of those stacks where, once again, I recognized none of the titles. In considering the imagery being used, I found myself asking, “Is this what I have to do to be commercially viable anymore?” Where does one find the balance between what seems to be popular demand while staying true to one’s own creativity?
Again, we’ve been here before so I have some idea how to snap myself out of this deadly loop of self-denial and betrayal. It goes something like this:
I know there are some who argue against my approach, who say we have to “evolve” and “change with the times.” What works for someone else may not work for you, though. What works for me works for me and may not help someone else one bit. Some people do need to evolve and do so well. Others, though, need to hold tight to what they are already doing.
What’s important is that you are making those decisions for yourself. Stop chasing trends that are going to change next week. Stop trying to be like someone else. Stop mimicking someone else’s creativity.
Don’t be your own Brutus. To yourself, above all, be true.[/one_half_last]
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