Chase Jarvis Chase Jarvis
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Chase Jarvis Chase Jarvis
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There Are No Excuses

I’ve heard you say that there’s nothing to take a picture of. I’ve heard you say you don’t know what to make, when to make it, how to make it, what to do. I’ve heard you say that you don’t know how to get your work “out there”. I’ve heard you say that you don’t know what to put on your blog. I’ve heard. I’ve heard. I’ve heard. And I promise you, I too have said all these things.

But there really are no excuses. Just make something and share it. You could make something in a day, just like these guys made this video. Or that thing, or that other thing. No excuses. These 2 guys had a wonderful, simple curiosity about a street in their home city of Toronto. So they explored it. They took a day and they made something.

Now. By itself, this isn’t going to land them in a museum. Or get them an editorial job shooting for a magazine. Or a campaign. But they’re not sitting in their dark basements doing nothing. They’re making something. They’re living the Create-Share-Sustain paradigm. They’ll make this cool thing. And then another cool thing. And then another cool thing. And then, you know what? They…[click ‘continue reading’ link below] —
…they will get contacted to shoot an editorial job, or a campaign, or to hang in the Tate.

It’s not any ONE thing we do. We might make a splash with something, but that is short lived. Just like I don’t get to know you through a first introduction at a party. Or via a single tweet, for example. I get to know about you through lots of interactions or the sum of your twitter stream. It’s the collection of our work–the repeat cycle of making things and sending them out into the word–that helps us illustrate who we are, what we stand for, where we’re going and why.

Go make something and share it.

(thx for the tip @jacoblied)
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16 replies on:
There Are No Excuses

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  1. mjk_photo says:
    January 10, 2010 at 7:13 pm

    This so hit the spot right now! I needed a little kick in the ass. Thanks bro!

  2. TeeWebb says:
    January 10, 2010 at 7:12 pm

    @Sunshine, that is incredibly inspiring.

    @Chase, you continue to be a massive inspiration for me. Coming from a video background, having evolved into photography your synergistic approach to utilizing and embracing both mediums is an incredible model/goal to work towards. Showcasing these incredible people on top of that (esp Canadians 😉 ) really keeps me off the couch. Thanks

  3. Gordana.M says:
    January 10, 2010 at 6:27 pm

    You have said this so well I will go ahead and quote you someplace important 😉

    One by one, the shots, are the building blocks… Given sometimes distance (emotional, chronological or other) it is very gratifying to see that there is a direction and strength to our seemingly random work.

  4. dale h lewis says:
    January 10, 2010 at 12:10 pm

    I had no clue what I was doing last fall when I did this;

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVQSulhNAeU

    at a fundraiser for elementary kids up in SF at Ocean Beach. In the end I learned a lot, not that I consider it to be very good work compared to others, but none the less I really enjoyed doing this.

  5. Marc Pritchard says:
    January 10, 2010 at 11:07 am

    Found that video before and loved it. Great for sharing and I love the switch to the other perspective.

    Totally agree on continually producing – of course it's never easy but it's a must!

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