Don't wait; do it yourself
Sometimes you simply need an outlet for creativity, a way to exercise your brain, a way to connect with others in your corner of the world or a way to just get work.
On the last Saturday in November, I launched Black River Issue 01.
It’s the first digital issue of an online photographic journal I’ve been running, editing, designing, marketing, and everything-ing myself since 2014.
It started out as ‘Eyes Forward Magazine’, an online magazine with a bit of a cringe name all about portrait photography that I started during my final year of university as part of a business plan module. A few years later, as my tastes and my own photography evolved, it did the same alongside me and turned into ‘of the land & us’, and finally, this Saturday it evolved again and became ‘Black River’, a bi-monthlyish photographic journal exploring our relationship with the world and what it means to be human.
It’s also the reason why this week’s newsletter is two weeks late!
I initially pushed this post back a few days so I could share the launch with you… of course, as projects tend to do, it was delayed, then delayed even more. Finally, I was able to launch it this past weekend but haven’t been able to gather the mental strength to even think about doing this for another few days - it was a pretty draining mammoth project! Whew.
I’m sharing this with you as a sort of follow on from the last newsletter about finding opportunity in tough times, specifically talking more about making your own way and setting things up yourself DIY-style.
I started this journal without much ambition or any detailed future plans in mind; it was built as a response to a university assignment, inspired by a few peers who’d set up their own publications (big up #Photography and Splash & Grab), and I thought it was something fun and nice that I could do with a little (ha!) spare time.
Over the years, it’s evolved into something big that takes up quite a bit of my time - especially as I do it all myself - and though it has been a struggle to find the right balance, it’s been completely worth it.
The connections I’ve made with fellow photographers, the amount of amazing work I’ve seen, and in-depth knowledge I’ve gained from interviewing people about their methods, processes, ideas, backgrounds, reasons is unparalleled. Not to mention, the career opportunities that have come my way because of it; most recently, on the back of the relaunch this past weekend, I’ve been asked to give a talk at a college about the journal.
I wanted to share this with you because the ability to be “proactive” is an important one in the creative world. I don’t mean forcing yourself to be productive during a pandemic or feeling like you need to always be “doing” - sometimes the best medicine is, in fact, to do nothing. But if you’re finding it difficult to catch a break, sometimes the best thing to do is to start something yourself.
DIY and self-starter culture is huge in the creative world - and there’s something to be said here about the inaccessibility of industry meaning that this has had to happen - but there’s so much amazing work that’s resulted from it.
I don’t want to use the term “side hustle” because it’s not always about the hustle and making money. Sometimes you simply need an outlet for creativity, a way to exercise your brain, a way to connect with others in your corner of the world, or a way to just get work. There are many reasons, and so many benefits.
In our age of convenience, it’s generally easy enough to begin with something small - or even something ambitious - and with the smallest of budgets.
Maybe you have ideas already but you’re not sure if it’ll work. To sacrifice myself to a cliché - you’ll truly never know if you don’t try.
If you fail, it doesn’t matter in the way we often think it does. Failing isn’t something to be afraid of. To “fail” is to learn what didn’t work, then we move on to something bigger and better. Rinse and repeat.
Any project or venture will always be a work in progress and need improvement. Look at it this way: even when you feel like you’re going backward, you’re still always going forwards.
In conclusion, just do it.
No, but really. I know it’s easy to think about doing and never actually do anything. The key is to just get started, and start small. Take a small step towards what you want to build, the smallest step you can. For me, it was writing out my ideas in a notebook. Take it one day at a time. Then, just keep on going.
Until next time,
A x
Listening
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Doing
A little about me
I’m a portrait and documentary photographer based in south London and enjoy telling stories about adventure, the outdoors, and our relationship with the natural world.
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