Black Ink, Red Ink & Models
June 25th, 2010 | Personal, Photography Tips
Taken at Tanjung Aru Beach recently in the middle of an e-session. Love how abstract it looks and feels.
There is a Chinese proverb I learn as a child. If we work near black ink, we’ll get black stains. If we work near scarlet ink, we’ll get red stains. We are influenced by what we are close to. Friends in our inner circle, mentors & literature are major influences of what we love & how we live. Gotta be careful what & who we model after.
It’s quite common to have younger photographers talking to me about their career path. Who should they work for? Who should they seek as mentors and teachers? What association should they join to further their craft? In short, who should they model after? These are very valid questions. From their tone and body language, I can tell their concerns are beyond skin deep. I suspect they know this Chinese proverb as well. There are no easy answers. John Maxwell developed questions to ask himself before picking a model to follow:
Does my model’s life deserve a following?
Does my model’s life have a following?
What is the main strength that influences others to follow my model?
Does my model produce other leaders?
Is my model’s strength reproducible?
taken from Maxwell’s Developing the Leaders Around You
June 25th, 2010 at 11:33 am
I agree, one must choose one’s mentor carefully. But must be objective enough not to follow blindly. The mentor serves as a guide for us, and we must develop our own style from his/her guidance.
June 28th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Many thanks for your inspirational thoughts !! That’s why I keep coming back to your blog. You’re a leader and model to many.
June 30th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Ha, the Chinese proverb…you reminded me. During my primary school, teachers always told us that proverb. I think it had already been “planted’ inside our hearts.
August 12th, 2010 at 10:11 am
i agree 100%.. guess thats whats wrong with the industry at the moment… randomly choosing a club or
association without knowing what they are getting into… its kinda sad when people judge you from what you
have rather than what you got… as in other words people judge you from what equipment you have rather
than what ideas or pictures that you have in you… i think when someone who is going to chose a mentor, he should chose a mentor who has a good understanding of what photography is and not the type of mentor that just because i got bigger guns so you should respect me type….
September 1st, 2010 at 10:04 pm
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