Aim for better
When it comes to developing your expertise, there ain’t no mountain top moment.
There’s always room for improvement.
One of the most important experiences of my life in terms of developing my style and approach to photographing experts was my two years in grad school at Brooklyn College.
While my time earning an MFA in Television Production was integral for learning the nuances of working with people and the technology, one of the biggest lessons I learned was about always striving for better with my art.
In the first semester, I took a single camera production course, and we had a project due that required us to write, shoot, and edit on our own.
No problem.
After knocking out all the pre-production stuff, I had the piece shot and cut days before it was due…
…I was studious like that :)
Well, if I’m being honest, I was equal parts studious and already somewhat knowledgeable.
Unlike most of my 12 other cohorts, I had some video production experience based on my time in college, and entry level, freelance gigs for HBO Sports, so I was fairly comfortable with the workload already.
And my professor, Stuart, knew all about that.
On the day the project was due, we met in the department conference room and screened each student's work, one by one.
A screening/critique session like this was always a dicey proposition, as you weren’t sure how the work would not only be received by Stuart, but also by members of the class.
But in this case, I felt pretty good, as I put a lot of work into this specific, 2-minute piece.
Before my video was screened, we sat through a handful of my classmates' pieces. Clearly, these projects were produced by folks still learning the very basics of shooting, writing and editing, which is awesome, since this is why we’re all here.
But, I noticed how Stuart was exceptionally kind and supportive of their efforts despite the clear lack of execution and inconsistent, production value.
After having been in various art programs my entire life, I thought his approach was quite refreshing and honestly, a welcomed relief.
When my piece was up in the queue, I was nervous but also felt quite confident that my work clearly exhibited production value and execution that the others didn’t.
Within moments, that confidence was shattered to shit.
Stuart completely ripped my video to shreds, and then collected those shreds, threw them into an empty garbage pail, poured gasoline on it and lit the damn thing on fire.
In front of everyone. Really put the FU in fun :)
To make matters worse, he gave me a C for the project.
I was equally devastated and pissed off at the whole experience.
After the class, my cohorts expressed sympathy towards me after watching that shit show play out, and were dumbfounded at why he went so hard in the paint at me.
And so was I.
When it was time to commute home, I went with several classmates to the bus, and once we jumped on, lo and behold, look who was sitting in the back of the bus all by himself?
Stuart.
At the urging of my classmates, I walked over and sat down.
When I asked him, “hey, what the fuck, dude?” - very loosely paraphrasing here :) - he paused for a moment, and then shared his reasoning.
He told me that my work - the preparation and execution - is already really good despite it being the first semester.
Hmmm - wasn’t expecting that. Well, if that’s the case then why the dressing down in front of everyone and the shitty grade?
He said that he didn’t want me to get comfortable. Comfortability leads to getting lazy with the work and it would prevent me from ever reaching and exceeding my potential.
Since he believed I had a real future in production, he wanted to instill in me the importance of never being satisfied and to always reach for better, because that industry will chew you up and spit you out the moment you start dropping the ball.
He’s definitely right about that.
As for ripping me apart in front of everyone in the room, he wanted it to serve as a lesson for everyone, and I was the ideal person to take the hit as I had the most experience coming into the program.
That exchange was one of the most important ones I ever had in school.
This concept of always striving for better exists in my work today with every single project that I tackle.
Every single strategy call.
Every single click of the shutter.
Every word I write.
And it’s not something I have to work to do - it’s a default approach at this point in my life.
And it’s one of the reasons why I hold Stuart in such high regard, despite the fact that I was still pissed at him for giving me a C :)
Over to you…
Who was a major influence on your younger self that taught you an important life lesson that you still practice to this day? Please share in the comment section below.