Perfection

A Corrosive Obsession

I shared a few images recently of a trip to the southern part of the South Island of New Zealand. Rugged cliffs battered by the fierce Southern Ocean waves, with wind to match, it is truly a landscape of glorious extremes. Yet, hidden just behind the rugged walls of cliffs, there are hills and rivers with graceful waterfalls and gentle ferns. In a word, it is postcard perfect.

This perfect natural presentation requires a perfect image. Right? A landscape littered with potential ‘bangers’ - macro to panorama- it’s all there.

In my mind this thought started to germinate, ‘We travelled all this way, I have no idea if we will be back again, better get it all in, make the trip worth it, …’ Ever had that short, intense blood pressure raising conversation in your head?

And so the tension builds- should I focus on the sunrise at the beach, or the light hitting the misty hills, or capturing the morning light on the waterfall or collage of tenebrous trees. And that’s just the tension before breakfast.

I exaggerate for effect, but I did find myself, for a few hours, wanting to capture all the wonder and joy this landscape evoked in me, with images that had to be ‘perfect’. So that became the real issue- I was starting to obsess with ‘perfection’ and getting it ‘all in’.

I had lost the connection with the context.

‘Perfection’ or its self-imposed definition, can drive us so far and fast, so quickly, we do not even recognise it! Possibly because we seem to have been corralled into the belief that we have to get the perfect image when we are behind the lens!

Knowing or understanding context is important for most things in life. It shapes our thinking because we think in words- and words without a context is often a con. We see this exemplified in our mainstream media these days (Maybe a future musing on that).

So, in the context of my recent trip, I left the heavy bag with all the lenses, another camera body, the 35mm point and shoot with Ilford B&W (just in case you know), filters and tripod and headed out for the day with one camera and small telephoto lens.

Was the outcome perfect? No, but I took more in, was more present with my wife and the, ‘if only I had my … with me’ moments, became fewer.

Understanding and accepting the context made the trip that much richer, and that much more memorable. I am keen to return and perhaps focus on some specific images. I maybe even look for that ‘perfect’ shot- but that is a big maybe.