All good art movements have had a manifesto, they are normally linked to a small group of artists with a like minded approach to their work. Manifestos can help to define a genre but more than that they can keep you focused and set constraints that promote creativity. I was looking for a photographer's manifesto and came across one that Italian photographer, Sara Lando, recently published on Tracy Zhang's blog. It is a high level easy to read manifesto which she "wrote down in one of my moleskins in 2005 as a half-joke and crazily enough I still live by them" and "Every time something went wrong for me I can track it back to ignoring one of these points.". I have published her points below as they really resonate with me and so I have decided to take these on myself.
- 1. You don’t need to tell the truth in a picture, but you need to be true to yourself when you shoot it.
- 2. Take pictures because you have something to say and not because you want others to say something to you.
- 3. Technique is just a tool. Everything that floats the boat is valid.
- 4. Never publish a picture you’d be ashamed to show your family.
- 5. Don’t let bad critiques take you down, but be lucid enough to see the truth in them.
- 6. You are allowed to make mistakes.
- 7. No bullshit. Dig deeper.
- 8. Take your time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that stuff. This doesn’t mean you’re allowed to stop when things get difficult.
- 9. Learn something new every day.
- 10. Don’t be scared to start something you don’t know how to do (yet).
- 11. Don’t sell your work to someone you have no respect for.
- 12. Stay independent. What you do is meant to keep you sane, not to make you rich.
- 13. Learn from other people’s work.
- 14. Have fun. You always find a way, even when you think you won’t.
- 15. Remember to laugh.
- 16. Help those who are starting out. Nothing you do is precious enough to be kept hidden: the real value is in the way you do it.
- 17. Don’t kill yourself. Might look good in a biography, but it’s not very clever.