Shutter to Think: Every Loss a Lesson

Years ago, when I was just a punk kid out of college starting my photo career at Sauk Valley, I was involved in a critique of some of our work with the chief photographer at the time, Jim Quigg.

(Quigg is a marvel of a photographer. Last I heard, he was doing some really cool things in California with the art.)

We were discussing his story on a local clown performer. I don’t quite remember the angle, but I believe he was documenting the transformation from regular person to clown persona. His lead image was that of a comically large clown shoe thrust up close to the camera, with the artisan further back in the frame.

Now, this positioning put the shoe out of focus and a little overexposed. So, a bit cockily, I said to Jim, “Jim, that shoe’s out of focus and a little overexposed. That’s against the compositional rules.”

“And that’s why I did it,” Jim responded.

Every loss is a lesson, I once heard, and I learned as much from that short sentence as I had in my time at Northern Illinois University (at a much cheaper price). All kidding aside, it did put me in a different mindset of creativity. Rules are meant to be broken, but they are also put in place for a reason. Just bucking against the norm doesn’t guarantee a quality result. It’s the effort and work one puts in to take that concept and massage it into a success.

This image here reminded me of that conversation that took place 20 or so years ago and had obviously stuck with me. I probably subconsciously think about that lesson a dozen times a day.

Thank you, Mr. Quigg.