How to Start a Project ➶

Mark Steinmetz:

People want to feel like they are in control. Often, before even starting something new, people try to determine by various means how their project will turn out. It’s important, I believe, not to get ahead of things but to simply allow the outcome to unfold naturally. Trying to decide too soon what results you want will lead to rigidity and lack of surprise.

People want to feel like they have a grip on things and so using words to make sense of what you’re doing might provide a feeling of relief and control but be careful you don’t make your project less interesting by having it fit neatly into a scheme of words. Images have a power that is different from the power of words and they communicate in ways that words cannot. In today’s culture, words dominate our thinking and, used in a lazy manner, they help sustain a spectrum of fundamentalist thought. Being able to accept ambiguity leads to a better quality of life and better work.

Here’s one of Stenmetz’s contact sheets and accompanying essay.

Also found Steven Ahlgren’s work through Fototazo. Here are portraits of Unix co-inventor Dennis Ritchie and of a web developer.

✶ Tuesday, 21 January 2014

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