Copying
I’m working on a new project, and I couldn’t grow and learn without copying.
I love Austin Kleon’s take on copying.
“Don’t just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don’t want to look like your heroes, you want to see like your heroes.”
I love taking pictures and creating photo books. And while I wish I could take a class at Maine Media Workshops and study with Eliot Dudik, those opportunities come with hefty price tags that are simply out of my reach financially. I do all of my work at our desktop and don’t even own a laptop, so I’m not sure how I’d benefit from some of the courses on bookmaking I read about (I’m talking about you Mary Virginia Swanson). Money (or the lack thereof) is a powerful creative constraint. And I thrive on constraints.
So I set about designing my own curriculum, driven by the desire to read and learn and practice. I give myself permission to make learning fun and follow the path that seems right for me.
A little more from Austin Kleon’s, Steal Like an Artist.
“The writer Wilson Mizner said if you copy from one author, it’s plagiarism, but if you copy from many, it’s research.”
For my current work, I pull from people and work that speaks to me, transforming their work into something of my own. Adding something to the world that only I can add.
You can keep up with my current project, A Guidebook For Small Travels - how to know very well your own little place in the world, over here. I’m opening up my process and inviting you in.