On Annie Lebovitz or Doing the Thing You are Made For

I don't necessarily love her photos. I think they are dark and eerie and sometimes dreary. I don't want to copy her style or subject matter. But I tell you what, Annie Lebovitz is the most consistent, hard-working photographer I have studied. 

I was privileged to read "Annie Lebovitz at Work" for a photography class I was in. I didn't appreciate her then as I do now.  I remember trying to speed read so that I could get on with being the world's next best photographer. The added years of hard work have made me appreciate what she does on a much deeper level.

Older and wiser and not yet quite the world's best photographer has changed a lot since then. My colleagues and coworkers will often hear me say "Every day is a school day." We never quit learning. If you have a craft you are called to, you should never quit studying it.

Last night I sat in a pile of books about photography at my favorite used bookstore. A very large volume lay open in my lap entitled "Annie Lebovitz Pilgrimage." And it was a school day. 

©CherieElainePhotography2019

My favorite used bookstore.

She makes the word "photograph" a verb. My lesson came loud and clear as I browsed her photos. Boots. Gloves. Actors. A broken television. Niagara Falls. It was as if she spoke these words to me herself, "Photograph anything. Photograph everything."

Annie Lebovitz didn't speak to me directly, of course. But looking at her photos made me think those words. I've said them to myself repeatedly. Photograph anything. Photograph everything. In other words, PRACTICE. 

©CherieElainePhotography2019

Photograph everything. Even the

things I'm afraid of. 

This is going to be my advice to all of you today. Anything you want to achieve is going to require practice. Not occasional practice. Hard work, hours of it, over an over again until it is so part of you that one does not separate itself from the other. 

I am Cherie. I am a photographer. I am a verb. I photograph. I am Cherie. I am a writer. I write. Here's an assignment for you:

Write this down, over and over until you believe it!
I am [insert name here], I am [insert title here]. I [insert verb here]. Now, DO THAT THING! 

©CherieElainePhotography2019

LOVE YOU!