At 12:04 7/25/01, Joel Wilcox wrote:
From: "John A. Lind" in part:
After its over, the three large Ilfo's will hang on the wall
at home or in my office. At the least I win at a personal level. I'd
rather look at something on my wall(s) I like than gaze day after day at
what I thought someone else might like.
Sometimes I am frustrated that I have to do a different kind of work to
support the work I really love to do in photography, but it does win one
the freedom to shoot what one wants to shoot and to like what one likes.
Joel W.
A couple weekends ago I visited the studio of T.C. Steele (now a state
historic site) in the southern part of Indiana. He was a famous 19th
Century Indiana impressionist. Just as many lesser professional
photographers must do today, painters often did portraiture to support
themselves. He studied portraiture in Germany for several years and
returned to Indianapolis where he established a portrait studio. His
excellent, lifelike portraiture has the typical dark, earth tones of the
period and his work in the region was soon in great demand. He raised his
rates accordingly. As he accumulated funds, he would travel south to do
what he liked best: paint landscapes of the Indiana countryside. By stark
contrast, these were pastel (and later light) toned impressionistic works;
completely and utterly different from his portraiture. Eventually he was
able to build a large, second studio for his landscape work in the
south. After that was completed, Steele would winter in downtown
Indianapolis (his studio was on the "Monument Circle" in the city's center)
and do his portraiture. The remaining 2/3 to 3/4 of the year would be
spent at his country studio making his landscapes. Only during his last
few years of life in the very early 20th Century was he able to retire from
his portraiture and pursue the landscapes full time.
This ought to sound familiar. I know a number of regional professional
photographers who put food on the table doing weddings, portraits and other
studio/commercial work. Their love, however, is their art photography,
muchg of which is outstanding, but it doesn't pay the bills. It was my
visit to T.C. Steele's studio that made me realize this has been going on
among artists for centuries.
-- John
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