Black+White Photography Magazine August 2010 Back Issue

This month I sold some of my pictures! To many of you this might not seem a big deal but, as a professional journalist, not a photographer, I’m thrilled to bits. I haven’t met the person who has bought them, as they were sold through an agent, but now I’m curious. One of the images is to be printed quite large and will have a silver foiled frame (breaking away from my customary classic black) – to be hung in a specific place in the client’s house. The image will, ultimately, become hers, not mine. Odd one that. A bit like children growing up – you lose control. It was one of the first things I ever learnt about writing – once you’ve finished a piece and let it go, it takes on a life of its own. You will never be there to explain it to the reader, it must explain itself – and you might be surprised at what it says. With writing I’ve got used to the idea over the years, but I can see that I’m going to have trouble with my pictures. And I can detect the same in some other photographers. I once bought a print from a photographer who would only sell it to me on condition that I promised to have it framed in precisely the way he described, hung in exactly the light he suggested etc. I suppose he just wanted it to remain his – it certainly never became mine. So I guess the answer is, let go and move on. Take the next picture. Yes, it’s exciting.