Hollywood, Calif.

“I even suspect many photographers are lying when they say they had it all planned in advance and that they spent ages working on one particular concept, when in fact they just threw it together at the end. It feels like the former approach is regarded as more respectable: smarter and more insightful.” – Raoul Gatepin

I started my project Drift with a plan. Once I decided to leave Los Angeles I was going to photograph until I was no longer adrift. Whether this brought me to Minneapolis, New York or anywhere else, was completely up in the air.  Time and circumstance landed me in Brooklyn. I had a job, an apartment and was setting up camp.  At that point, I’d felt rather confident that I was no longer adrift. I’d been photographing in New York regularly and was starting to collect photographs for a new project which would be more New York-centric.

I edited the images for Drift, and sequenced them into six parts, documenting my coast to coast journey from Los Angeles to New York.  I withheld presenting the project until the edit was done and then presented it sequentially first on Flickr, and then on my website.  I was happy with the outcome and thought this was the type of project that I wanted to pursue in the future, personal documentary tied to a specific timeframe and location(s).

But then something happened, no scratch that, nothing happened. And by nothing, I mean, I continued to photograph and edit. I was collecting more photographs that fit into my New York project, and as I did, I started to recognize a connection to some of the work that had appeared in the Drift edit.  And furthermore, some of the medium format work I was doing was starting to tie together in my brain in a way that made me completely re-evaluate the medium format work I’d shot for Drift.

I’d stumbled into a creative dilemma, and started to think that there was no way out, which is a foolish thing to think since one can always “kill your darlings” and start from scratch.  Funny thing though, this dilemma illuminated a few thoughts I’d been having regarding projects and online presentation.  When you present work online it’s often distributed through multiple channels, Flickr, blogs, Tumblr, website.  Where and the way it’s presented changes the context.  What we define as a ‘project’ online may only exist online, or act as launching point for a larger project. Perhaps an online series or project will merge and meld with another project or series and become a book.  The web provides photographers with a diverse way of presenting work, and acts as an incubator for projects when you may have no idea what direction the work will go.

For me, shooting more and editing changed Drift for me.  The project had served it’s purpose. It gave me a framework to get from point A to point B, but once I arrived, I no longer needed the vessel: the concept for the project.  So what to do? The edit exists on my site, but the photographs will be used for other ideas. I’ll probably bury on my site and keep the Flickr Set/Edit alive, since Flickr is a good place to hide rough drafts.

Moving forward, I think I’m going to forgo planning ahead too much. I don’t know that long term projects suit my style or satisfy me creatively. I like the idea of series, some short, some long, some perhaps connecting to one another.  The entire process is still a mystery to me, and that’s exciting. It’s a sign that the hunger and inspiration are still alive and kicking, ready to march on.

“My aim is to try to make a great book. That’s what I want to do. And what does that mean? I have no idea what a great book is. What I do know is that it isn’t a formula. It’s like a great album, maybe the band has to spend three years in the studio doing it or maybe it’s live in one take over a weekend. Knowing it’s not a formula, I know that I have to keep shaking these up, so I do something fast, then do something that takes years, trying different things. Do the stuff where I work alone, do the stuff where I work collaboratively. Sometimes it will fall flat, but hopefully magic will strike at some point.” – Alec Soth