getting back to photography? 7.1.5 > 60 and more...

[legume]

i’ve had some rotating interests throughout my life never being able to choose just one and stick to it. some of my friends with more scientific orientation would say that i could never succeed if i keep up such approach, while others, who are more into humanities, are completely understanding and often praised me for my „talents”. i’m somewhere inbetween but eventually learned to just appreciate the fact i always have something to fall back onto and so rarely get bored. recently, after rather long standstill, i’ve been really craving shooting again. for some reason though i don’t feel ready to act on it. so I asked Yi: what do you think of getting back to photography? 7.1.5 > 60

at the time of asking the question i felt drawn to trying again some portraiture. it was my starting point, which then shifted to interest in fashion photography and after working in that industry for too long (not in a creative field though) i moved on to street photos, then finally arrived at minimalism and got quite obsessed with dusseldorf school and documenting spaces / new topographics movement… which completely takes people out of the picture (though it deals with man-altered landscape).

7.1 is telling me working with people would require discipline and it’s a fair point, anytime i did a shoot for others i had problems with setting deadlines or delivering my work (it was always for free and my own offer, if not just a way to hide behind the camera to avoid actually connecting with humans and i couldn’t accept deadlines in my creative process as it reminded me of „work” too much), so if i really want it, i’d need to take it more seriously. 7.5 seems to be exploring this point a bit further, as shooting people (hunt takes captives) requires actually managing the relation with the subject (7.5) and that’s something i’m probably not ready for. 60 talks of setting proper boundaries, but it also reminds me that i’d need to work on my measuring skills (light, aperture, shutter speed etc.) that i kinda lost through my „minimalistic” ways of shooting over the years.

i had a look at 19.5 (the hidden line) and it looks promising, but again, only if i’m to take it seriously, then i need to let people know i want to take pictures of them (reach out to friends, take charge of my relations).

to be honest i felt quite discouraged by this reading so i asked a follow up: why do i feel drawn to photography again? 61.3 > 9

i guess that will be acting on a whim, i want to actually connect with people and not shoot them really

but i wanted to explore all of this more, so kept asking: street photography rather than portraiture? 9.1.3 > 59

again, not the most encouraging cast. maybe nothing wrong with it, but i think it’s to do with my confidence and going about it the wrong way (it should be more about connecting with people rather than have them roll their eyes at me, i’m no William Klein and i won’t be). after this cast i also had Susan Sontag’s quote come to mind - “The camera makes everyone a tourist in other people’s reality, and eventually in one’s own.”

so lastly i asked: what if i start with nature? 22.1.4.5 > 33

this seems like a good place to (re)start. for some reason i’ve never been a fan of this genre, felt a bit cliche, more like obscuring reality of it’s true beauty rather than beautifying it. but maybe this is why Yi kinda urges me to try it, to at least look at it again and dust off my equipment. i see 33 as retreating back to myself, but overall it also feels like good advice to connect with nature and through that with myself, so maybe eventually by feeling more comfortable in my own skin i’d gain more confidence to act on the 1st (and / or 3rd) cast.

what do you all think? any thoughts and interpretations are welcome! thanks

 

[marybluesky]

what do you think of getting back to photography? 7.1.5 > 60
Do that, however don't forget your limits: you can "capture", no mistake, but don't expect too much from yourself.

why do i feel drawn to photography again? 61.3 > 9
I agree, it's a whim and also a way of connecting to people.

street photography rather than portraiture? 9.1.3 > 59
You'll come back to your own way, some little things would discourage you, and the idea fades.

what if i start with nature? 22.1.4.5 > 33
Beautiful reading! You walk on the foot in the nature & take dreamy photos that may not be professional, but are nice and will be appreciated in the end. Maybe 33 points to retreating from the everyday life? I'm not sure.

 

[dfreed]

so I asked Yi: what do you think of getting back to photography? 7.1.5 > 60

Hex. 7: Augury auspicious for a great man.
Line 7.1: The troops move off to battle bound, encouraged by the pitchpipes’ sound. Not good.
Line 7.5: There will be game for the hunt. Favorable for interrogating captives. No Misfortune. (But then again ... ) ‘An elder son commands the troops, a younger son will cart the corpse.’ Augury of Disaster.

This is generally a positive (auspicious) response. Hexagram 7's title, 'Troop's, suggests to me that the response is giving you advice about how to approach 'getting back to photography'. (Just as one might need advice about how to muster, command or make use of troops.)

It is saying that you should not approach this as someone going off to battle - it's not about conquering someone or some thing; it's not about commanding or about winning or losing (carting corpses).

If you hear the 'pitchpipes' sound' as a call to war, then that's 'not good'. But what if hearing the pitch-pipes are about hearing - or paying attention to - that which rouses you creatively? 'Pitch pipes' also brings to mind getting in tune, or finding out if you are in-tune with photography. To 'interrogate captives' seems harsh, but in your case I think it's about looking into this endeavor, this craft; to ask about it, to be curious.

It's as if the Yi's response is throwing the question back at you: "so, what about getting back into photography?" And the answer is in the doing (and not necessarily in what the Yi 'says' or 'doesn't say' about all this); the proof is in the pudding: pick up your camera, go out, and 'get to' - or get into - taking photos.

​

Do you find joy in this? Do you enjoy the 'craft' of photography? Do you feel a sense of flow, or that you can touch deeper emotions through this craft?​

I'm think that's how you'll find what you need to know about getting back (in)to photography.

Best, D.

 

[legume]

thank you marybluesky & dfreed

You'll come back to your own way, some little things would discourage you, and the idea fades.

interesting, now that i think about it, this is pretty much what already happened. i wonder if these readings (minus the 2nd one maybe) are showing the current situation in the resulting hex, with the main one and its lines as the advice, especially since i'm asking about getting "back" to it. so the outcome being - whatever i'll make of it. thanks!

It is saying that you should not approach this as someone going off to battle - it's not about conquering someone or some thing; it's not about commanding things or about winning or losing (carting the corpses).

thank you, David, definitely not approaching it as a battle (i generally see 7 as working as a "team") though it obviously has become some sort of a struggle. i think 7 here gives me some insight into my cooperation issues, as i feel Yi had sensed that i meant portraiture with the first question (i actually did, hence the other, more specific questions).

the proof is in the pudding: pick up your camera and go out and 'get to' - or into - taking photos

i'm normally quite allergic to being told what to do, but you win (still, not a battle ), the battery's charging and i turned my house upside down looking for lost memory card. found it!

Do you find joy in this? Do you enjoy the 'craft' of photography?

that's a good question. if by craft you mean working with the camera and the postprocess i definitely prefer the latter. i first learned most on dslr, then moved to analogue, fell in love with 6x6 format, but it was all too heavy. eventually had most fun with some basic analogue point&shoot cams, but then all the local places that developed film got shut and it's become too expensive and too much of a hassle. i still have the dslr (still too heavy to carry around) and finally got something more compact that i like to use, but tbh, for the most part learned to depend on my iphone... i use it more for what i'd call visual gymnastics, just simple exercises in looking, capturing something that captures me, at times. but when i go through my photos i just see a huge difference in quality when using the actual camera - only felt somehow too embarrassed (i guess it's to do with the 9.3 experience) to always have it on me. then there's the postprocess that i can sometimes spend hours on, simply cause it's fun. but (going back to 7) i lack the discipline and organisational skills (at least in my creative process) to actually take time to dive into developing pictures right after shooting. i'm sure i still have some undeveloped rolls of film lying around somewhere, as well as pictures on my hd worth at least a bit of photoshop work to make them actually good and (as advised by one of my photography gurus ages ago) putting them into stories or even a proper portfolio.

well, that again helped, i guess there was some more to find in the hex 7 (first reading) after all

Do you feel a sense of flow, or that you can touch deeper emotions through this craft?

yes to the first, as to the 2nd, not sure about other people, but for myself yes. i find any creative process i jump into quite healing, so to speak. but i believe "touching emotions" (especially of potential audience and especially deeper ones) goes above the "craft" and pertains to the "art" and that's the part i'm probably most insecure about.

do you take pictures yourself, or was it all just coming from the I Ching reading?

 

[dfreed]

i'm normally quite allergic to being told what to do, but ....

That makes me want to as - only half-kiddingly - then why are you consulting the Yi, if you don't want to follow/do what it suggests? Also ... I could have prefaced what I said with, ' it's my opinion that the Yi is suggesting here that you might want to ....', but I thought it might be too much - and I'm assuming it's obvious that this is my interpretation and that it is ALWAYS offered as a suggestion of what you may want to do to address the situation or the question you asked about.

if by craft you mean ....

I was speaking more broadly, and it may be a no-brainer really: do you enjoy photography? On the other hand, I do know of photographers and others who come to not like what they are doing, perhaps that they've gottn too caught up in the 'business of' (photography, teaching, woodworking, medicine, ... ) that it is no longer enjoyable for them - so maybe it is still worthwhile to ask.

do you take pictures yourself, or was it all just coming from the I Ching reading?

Yes, I am a photographer and artist - among other things.

All the best, David.

 

[legume]

I'm assuming it's obvious that this is my interpretation and that it is ALWAYS offered as a suggestion of what you may want to do to address the situation or the question you asked about

of course! i also meant it more jokingly, by the quoted bit emphasising the latter part, that, to my own surprise, you actually made me get off my butt and by that i meant you actually helped.

and though you were half-kidding, i might as well answer it (since it's a forum) - i take Yi's advice as the advice that's already in me, so it's not like someone's telling me what to do, but rather, i tell myself what i gotta do (or what direction to take). i understand my answer wasn't necessarily amusing, and possibly didn't come across as intended, hope you didn't find it annoying though.

I was speaking more broadly, and it may be a no-brainer really: do you enjoy photography?

i also get it was more straight forward. though, by exploring these specific questions in writing i managed to find more in my own cast and got things out of it that i didn't see there before. so again, it was helpful!

Yes, I am a photographer and artist - among other things.

thanks for sharing some of the wisdom coming not just from Yi but also from experience on the topic, much appreciated