The Rules
“The rules? The rules do not apply.” – KMFDM, “Rules“
In college, my journalism professor and mentor always told us, “Rules are made for smart people to break.”
What he meant, especially for us students, was: learn the rules first. Do it the right way. Then get creative and bend or break the rules.
In college, we weren’t “smart” writers yet. We had to learn that news articles have a flow to them – the famous inverted triangle. Once you master that, he said, then you can break the rule when it serves the story.
Practice was the key. I think this serves in photography, too (and maybe art in general).
During my first year treating photography as a serious hobby, my photos sucked. Maybe a year later, after a few aha moments, my style really came into its own. But I had to shoot a lot of so-so pictures before I got to ones I really saw as mine.
This year, I’ve been experimenting more with my photography on purpose. I want to try something different – and have more of that “break the rules” mindset my journalism prof encouraged in college.
It’s not that I haven’t branched out before, but this year, I’m consciously taking a different view of the photos I make. Making things is a constant give-and-take of trying new things and making what’s comfortable.
And maybe I can do it within the confines of my existing style. Pink Floyd made The Dark Side of the Moon, then a bunch of different-sounding albums with a variety of themes. But you can tell they’re all Pink Floyd albums.
Can I make a bunch of different-looking photos that you can still tell are mine?
Time to break some rules and find out.