Processing
October 15, 2019


Processing pictures from a trip, no matter how long or short, is: looking at them, making an initial selection, start editing, come back to them, refine them, post them, make a smaller selection, make an alternative selection, kill some darlings, discover new ones, edit some more, put a frame around them, post them, look at them, be in doubt, be happy with it, be in doubt again, make an addition to the website. Fumble with layouts. Write a blog post about it. Continue editing. Etc. At some point I’m done. Not definitely, but for the time being. And only then, I can start thinking about making new pictures. 

It’s not what everybody does. Some people leave them be and move on to other projects or pictures. Occassionally making an edit and posting a photo, along with other pictures from different shoots. And I suspect many people do that. I’m all for it really, creating some distance to the outcome is probably a good idea. Being patient and having a fresher look at it later is probably a good idea. All good, solid ideas. But I can’t. I need to work my way through the whole lot, now, not later. It’s not just about processing pictures and being curious about the possible results though. It’s also about processing an experience. Prolonging the experience by remembering it, as well as deepen it somehow. Going back to these places and how I felt about them, or how I feel about them now. Working on the pictures is a sort of closure to an open end.

Two pictures from a small series taken on Gullfjellet, Bergen Norway.