44
B+W
F
aced with a veritable
tsunami of photographs
online, covering every
genre from every
possible angle, I often find
myself questioning whether
I’m firing my various shutters
often enough. Opening up my
computer I’m confronted by a
surfeit of snappers launching
a shot a day projects, celebrating
their 1,000th self-portrait of
the year, or simply inviting me
to view an album of images
that they somehow managed to
produce while my screen was
dark and the only thing I was
contemplating was the back of
my eyelids. With so many of my
peers seemingly demonstrating
an unrelenting ability to snap
24 hours a day, it’s unsurprising
that I wonder if I am being
prolific enough when my
photographic output is – at best- intermittent.
We all go through quiet
periods, where we find ourselves
taking fewer shots than we
once did, and it can happen
for any number of reasons.
Sometimes a sudden change of
circumstance, such as a new
job or one of life’s many curve-
balls might mean we have to
down tools and place our focus
elsewhere, while at other times
it might be a more gradual
slowing of the shutter finger, as
inspiration wanes. Whatever
the cause, our photographic
engine can slow to a tick-over,
or maybe even stalls, and for a
period of time our photographic
propagation is reduced.
It’s easy to make excuses for
these periods of inactivity, and
I have two go-to defences. The
first is that photography is not
really my job per se. At this
precise moment in time I‘m kept
busy writing about photography,
or editing and proofreading
books and magazines on the
subject. So while I’m working
in photography, the actual act
of photographing is often – and
INSPIRATIONFaced with the demands of work and family life, and the relentless output of online
peers, Chris Gatcum decides it’s time to find a one-hour window a week to devote
entirely to his personal photographic projects – and he invites you to join him.All images
© Chris GatcumSTRAIGHT TALKINGAbove For all the time-based excuses I make, some shots take no time at all to execute. This flower was
in a vase on the mantelpiece with some beautiful light falling on it. It took me longer to get my camera
(and process the shot) than it did to shoot it.