Dear friends,
I've pushed the next step of the book-making series back two weeks. One of my favorite creative people died, and this issue poured out of me the day I heard. So we'll get back to the book soon. Let’s start off with a quote.
“All you can do is arrange things that are already here. Everything’s already here anyway. The idea that creativity means making something out of nothing, that’s nonsense, of course.”
That’s a quote from Dutch artist Wim T. Schippers I came across it in a short video the Stedelijk Museum made about him. I’ve bookmarked it to go back to, as a reminder that this is what photography is. In one sentence.
We don’t build the street, or grow the tree, or arrange the way someone’s hand rests on a table while they talk. It’s all already there. We walk up, decide where to stand, decide when to press the button. We arrange what exists.
Schippers said the same was true of writing:
“Same with writing. What writers do is put the alphabet in a different order. That’s all it is. They’re using words that already exist. And in art you’re doing the same thing.”
He spent about sixty years making art that refused to explain itself. Sculptures, films, plays, gloriously strange television. He loved to confuse people, and he was very good at it.
Here’s another quote I love:
“Sometimes I ask this question, as a joke: when you look at a tree, you say ‘how beautiful,’ but you don’t then go and ask ‘but what’s it supposed to represent?’ like people do with art. That’s a really strange question, isn’t it. Or, ‘what’s it about?’”
When I first started taking photos, I talked myself out of so many of them because I couldn’t answer that question. What’s it about? What’s the point? Why does this one matter? As if a picture has to file a report before it’s allowed to exist.
You don’t ask that of a tree. You let the tree be beautiful.
You’ll notice trees all through this letter. That’s all they are. Trees I’ve photographed over the years because I liked them. I found them using Excire to search my archives, and there were nearly 5000 images of trees! I guess I really do love trees. They’re not about anything, and I’m not going to pretend they are.
This is the whole idea behind my photo diary, which I’ve kept every single day since the start of 2023. Most of those pictures aren’t about anything. A tea, or my laundry drying in the kitchen or a friend laughing at something I’ve already forgotten. They don’t add up to an argument. They’re just there, the way the days were there.
It’s what NOTICE turned out to be too. A tulip wilting. Light moving across a hedge. None of it was about anything. It was a record of paying attention, and that was enough. Here are two photos from that body of work, but not from the book itself:
So here’s the permission, if you want it. That photo you keep not taking because you can’t explain it, take it. The one sitting in your archive that you’ve never shown anyone because you wouldn’t know what to say about it, it doesn’t owe you a statement. It’s allowed to just be.
Margriet Schavemaker, the curator who built Schippers his own room in the Stedelijk, put it plainly:
“Wim always says it himself: why does everything have to be about something? Isn’t it just there, isn’t that enough?”
It is. It’s enough.
Wim T. Schippers died on June 10th, at the age of 83. If you grew up in the Netherlands you knew him, even if you didn’t know it, because he was the Dutch voice of Ernie on Sesamstraat. He once said he made things he liked making, and that he wanted to share the joy of that with other people. I can’t think of a better reason to make anything.
If you have a friend who could use this bit of inspiration I am sharing with you, I’d love for you to share it with them. As a bonus, it really helps Process to find new readers.
What's your tree? The ordinary thing you'd happily photograph for no reason at all. Tell me in the comments.
I will randomly select one of the comments as the winner of this week’s Process Giveaway and they will receive a package with some surprise goodies, including some film, a book from my collection, and more.
NEXT WEEK: Holy moly, issue 250?!? That snuck up on me! And in two weeks, we get back to step 2 of the book making process, everything about image selection and organization. If you missed step 1, check it out here.
I wrote this issue a few days after Schippers died, and I am sad to add that my friend Om Malik, a passionate photo guy and much more, also has since passed. He left an enormous impact as a writer and human being. Rest in peace, Om.
Speak soon!
Wesley
P.S. All my film is developed by Carmencita Film Lab. They’re the best and love what they do. Use code PROCESS for a free upgrade.
P.P.S. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam will be showing Schippers’s last piece, from July 2-19. More info here.
If Process adds something to your week, here’s how to help keep it going: grab a copy of my photo book NOTICE Journal Volume One or the Process Workbook series. Volume 5 just came out and is an 80-page step-by-step guide on how to make your own book or zine.
Process Photo Club members get 40% off NOTICE and 100% off all five Workbooks. Not a member yet? Join here.
Process Photo Club members get the PWB5 for free, plus all four previous workbooks (€60 in savings on day one), 40% off my photo books, 30% off workshops, and more.
Browse the Process Archive for more articles.
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