leading a visual life.

i am crazy, crazy, crazy about this video documenting the sartorialist's one and only sam schuman. he holds a perspective that grace coddington (creative director of vogue; see http://bit.ly/eFzCHh) has so dearly adopted as a mandatory way of life: when out and about, do not close your eyes because you never know what might inspire you. he asserts this outlook--"keep your eyes open, and really relate to what you are seeing, react to what you are seeing..." there is surely an art to reacting--it is something that cannot be copied, where individualism is guaranteed because there is something inside us that attracts to a scene, a person, a visual inspiration. the best part is that it cannot be explained.



the man behind the renowned sartorialist camera has a raw story that offers the risk taker, the innovative type, and the off-the-cuff creative thinker, relational hope and boosting encouragement. why? because he was the sports guy who never never assisted for anyone, who's resume was not his beacon of hope, but rather his instinctual style came solely from trial and error, where he narrowed his talent and embraced his unpredictable quest to explore his original flair.

daily, i think about how little i know, how much more i could stretch my brain and my creative eagerness... and it wasn't until sam schuman's quote that i realized this is a positive thing--"my lack of knowledge in the beginning really helped and made me refine what little I knew to make it work...it wasn't really the technical aspect of photography, but how it communicated to me, how it created certain curiosities..." when something is over my head, eliminating the fear, and turning it into action makes learning so much deeper and makes skill so much more appreciated.

there is not just one right way: "it's so instinctual the way I shoot; the way I do it is just the way I do it." be who you are. look to people for inspiration rather than identity.

i love when the stories teach, when knowledge is digested outside of a cookie-cutter learning facility, and when something finally clicks because someone shared. this fascinating documentary has done just that for me.

closing thought. be a part of what the technology has to offer: "the internet has given us a digital park bench...really the whole world's open to you now..." people watching has gone global. love that.