[From an airplane, 35,000 feet above the US Midwest, a baby crying non-stop in his mothers' arms next to me]
Greg's flame flickered thusly:
(background music: Boatman on the Volga).
>I've been in one of my regularly scheduled bouts of depression lately >and I was considering giving up photography.
Who have you been hanging out with ? Did you stop drinking & taking other intoxicants ? See what happens ? Sheeeesh.
>I'm not a pro so its not feeding my kids and its really just using up >money. So I was wondering if there is some reason, of which I'm not >totally aware, to take photos.
If ya have to ask....no, there's intrinsic reason that will satisfy your inner Saturn/Scrooge/Silas Marner. Maybe it is time to walk away (or weld the cockpit closed ?) We'll give you an honorable discharge, and you can leave the Temple.
I have to ask: Is there any chance that you are being self-destructive, and taking something away that you give every sign of liking, if not loving ? You can always become a much more frugal shooter, you know.
[Background Muzak: "Thrill is gone"]
>Does anybody know of a good
>non-monetary reason to take photos(other than to record our own >lives and the big moments in the kiddies lives?
Yes, I do, but they have nothing to do with whether *you* should continue to torch (in)disposable income. The blood has to come to a boil in your own veins, mi amigo. It is good that you have acknowledged this in yourself, and a divorce can be much better than just going through the motions out of hollow habit. The question is not why other people do it, but why you should.
If I may ask, what made you start photographing seriously in the first place ? Are you at a pause in the learning curve ?
My advice is to stop *all* photographic activity, specially this list. Put your cameras (save for the family-pic P&S) away under lock and key. Give the key to your wife, and tell her under NO circumstance (even if you beg) is she to give it to you before Jan 18, 2003. See what happens. If you're not jonesing BADLY by then, seeing "pictures" everywhere, consider taking up Quake.
Everyone goes through slumps, some burn out, and the pre$$ures of Chri$tma$ are enough to make anyone think seriously about money at this time of the year. Could this be part of it ?
--- Luis
Ps. Can I have your cameras, unused films, and photobooks on the 19th ?
