Document Everything. That is probably the one and only advice I would ever give to any photographer, especially anyone going traveling for an extended period of time. Document everything. In pictures and in words. It is all about process and all the little things which are really the big things. I have gone through so many different phases of photography over the past 4-5 years. Having the luxury of time and shooting a lot I time-travel faster through these phases faster than most. The biggest change was switching to a smaller tool in 2011, Fuji X cameras and now a Leica M6. This means that I always carry my cameras, it is not a tool that has to be ‘unpacked’ when it is time to shoot – my camera is always there, always ready. This is important. Not just breaking out the tool when it is time to make pictures, make the big ‘hero’ shots, the big moments, no it now means the camera is just there, like my notebook, I record the feelings, thoughts, impressions, in writing, the camera is now there to always document it visually. Part of me. Meaning all the little things, the little moments, which are actually the big moments, get documented. Document everything. That is my one advice, given to me by a friend, I am passing it on.
These two images are not much, shot at two different places in New Mexico, just small moments, but one of the man great things about making books and playing with layout, spreads and small prints are discovering small images and images that pair up well together. Images made on the road, time traveling, free, just looking, searching, experiencing, seeing, shooting. No big plans, no big moments. Driving through the magic emptyness under a comforting hard sun. Stopping at a café at the end of a long straight road cutting through wide open New Mexican desert. Having lunch in a funky café in the funky town called Truth or Consequences; the guitarist turning out to be really good. Small things maybe, but no, turns out to be the stuff that is remembered and the stuff I am happy I documented.
Document Everything, make pictures. Make work and lots and lots of it. Big breaks, I guess they can happen but they never quite turn out as expected. It is doing the work, and more work, keep plugging at all the small things, make pictures. Make work, make connections, enter unexpected doors that open. It will add up. It must. Little things. Not so little at all.
