Art is What We Call . . .

Spotted Lily ©2011 Bo Mackison

“Art is what we call…the thing an artist does.

It’s not the medium or the oil or the price or whether it hangs on a wall or you eat it.

What matters, what makes it art,
is that the person who made it overcame the resistance,
ignored the voice of doubt and made something worth making.

Something risky. Something human.”

~ Seth Godin

I read Seth Godin’s words this weekend, and thought, “Oh yes, spot on.” This weekend I’ve been working non-stop on a photography project – a project that means a great deal to me on a personal level. It is my hope that the portfolio I’m assembling will also speak to other people. But what really matters, has already taken place. My photographs speak to me, make meaning, explain life.

What other people think is interesting, and I am always curious to hear what people truly think about a photograph I take and process. But another person’s opinion won’t change my thoughts. I’ve taken the photo, chosen it, looked at it carefully, even listened to it, and  – this is the biggest discovery – I’ve heard the photo speak to me with love.

It took time, and some learning, but finally, I’ve discovered my opinion about my photograph is the most important opinion. Not to say I don’t want to know what others think. I do, but with a caveat.

As Seth Godin so astutely said, in the last line of the above quote:

“Art is not in the . . . eye of the beholder.  It’s in the soul of the artist.”

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She is currently assembling two portfolios for portfolio reviews — 5 reviewers, 5 reviews, 20 minutes each — for when she attends the Filter Photo Festival in Chicago in October. She is terribly excited about the coming experience!