Jealousy
Last night was our first critique for my photography class. For those of you who don't know what a critique is, or how they work, it's basically you putting your work up for the class to review. I've had to do this before when I was pursuing a degree in interior design, so the process was not new. Unfortunately, no matter how often you do it, it still is nerve racking. Having to put your design (in essence yourself) out there for the world to judge is difficult. It is also educational, which is why students are subjected to go through this torture time and time again.
It's educational in the sense that the teacher will tell you what things you could have done to make your print better, or what you did wrong with the shot that you had (relating this to photography). It's also educational because you get to see what everyone else in the class did. Everyone has different perspectives in life. You can learn al ot just by looking at other people's pictues. Also you get to hear the comments made about their prints. So if someone else did something good/bad you can learn from them, even if you didn't happen to have that issue yourself.
Looking at my classmates prints....well...I just felt that mine weren't any good. Maybe that's too harsh. I guess I thought mine were so-so. Not awful, but nothing spectacular. There were some others in class who had some prints that weren't spectacular either, but then some of the prints were just...well, awesome. There are some truly talented people in my class. I sort of started wondering if I should even be taking the class at all. But then I told myself that I'm taking a class to LEARN! If I took perfect pictures already, I would have no need for the class!
So, earlier today, I was reading a blog where someone else expressed the same thoughts as me. (http://surfacebelow.blogspot.com/) The blogger questioned "Should the beautiful work of others depress me?" And answered "Of course not. But, anytime that I look at work of others, I am immediately drawn to compare myself to it..." This really made an impact on me, because that is exactly what I did. And it's hard not to.
I compare myself to others in all aspects of my life. It's really not the best way to live. Everyone is different. You can't really compare yourself to anyone else because they are not you. It's like comparing apples and bananas. You can compare them, but it's not going to do you much good because there is no common reference point. Yes, they are both fruit, but they look completely different, come from different trees, even different regions.
All we can really do is live our own lives to the best of our ablities. And find joy in others beautiful works.
It's educational in the sense that the teacher will tell you what things you could have done to make your print better, or what you did wrong with the shot that you had (relating this to photography). It's also educational because you get to see what everyone else in the class did. Everyone has different perspectives in life. You can learn al ot just by looking at other people's pictues. Also you get to hear the comments made about their prints. So if someone else did something good/bad you can learn from them, even if you didn't happen to have that issue yourself.
Looking at my classmates prints....well...I just felt that mine weren't any good. Maybe that's too harsh. I guess I thought mine were so-so. Not awful, but nothing spectacular. There were some others in class who had some prints that weren't spectacular either, but then some of the prints were just...well, awesome. There are some truly talented people in my class. I sort of started wondering if I should even be taking the class at all. But then I told myself that I'm taking a class to LEARN! If I took perfect pictures already, I would have no need for the class!
So, earlier today, I was reading a blog where someone else expressed the same thoughts as me. (http://surfacebelow.blogspot.com/) The blogger questioned "Should the beautiful work of others depress me?" And answered "Of course not. But, anytime that I look at work of others, I am immediately drawn to compare myself to it..." This really made an impact on me, because that is exactly what I did. And it's hard not to.
I compare myself to others in all aspects of my life. It's really not the best way to live. Everyone is different. You can't really compare yourself to anyone else because they are not you. It's like comparing apples and bananas. You can compare them, but it's not going to do you much good because there is no common reference point. Yes, they are both fruit, but they look completely different, come from different trees, even different regions.
All we can really do is live our own lives to the best of our ablities. And find joy in others beautiful works.
posted by Tallulah Jones | 1:35 PM
2 Comments:
Who told you that you already failed in life? you shouldn't listen to them. They know nothing! :) Just kidding. Funny how things you say can come back and bite you in the butt later.
Luv ya!
Tallulah,
I found your site through Maura's blog because she wrote me. Ha, you quoted me in your blog. I feel so special. You have some really great thoughts on your blog. So, you're doing photography? Get some photos up on here!
p.s. you should put word verification on your comments section, that way wierd people like mauricemartin2791 can't give you link to online dating sites. Who needs that anyways!! well, have a good day.
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