Bill Jay died recently and as a result Ailsa and I (and maybe others eventually) are having a "Bill Jay Day" today on Twitter to celebrate the writing of one of photography's finest commentators (go to
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23billjay to see how we're progressing).
If you fancy an entertaining read go to
http://www.billjayonphotography.com and read through the articles/essays section. You won't regret it. Just about everything in there is worth reading, but the one that stood out for me (given I'm only about 25% of the way through) is one titled "
How to be Famous, Sort Of
(and why fame has nothing to do with it)" which is a must-read for anyone harbouring thoughts of achieving celebrity and renown through photography.
Almost every line in it is quotable, but here are a few unrelated passages to whet your appetite:
I hope you are getting the message, young photographer, that fame in your chosen field is not fame at all, but a fickle passing fad of total irrelevancy to the culture at large.
So fame in photography is not only illusionary, restricted as it is to a few thousand, but also it is short-lived. How short? Exactly the same as the life-span of a gerbil.
I will now reveal to you for the first time anywhere in print ("shows arrogant, haughty behavior") the secrets to becoming a short-lived, inconsequential success.
What you photograph is more important than how well you photograph it. One of the supreme lessons of photographic history is that there are a limited number of subjects which impinge on the culture at large. They are: portraits of actresses, female nudes, and nudes of female actresses, not in that order. The budding famous photographer would do well to bear this in mind. I will be frank with you, much as it might hurt your delicate feelings and undermine your need for admiration, your arty snaps of out-of focus tract homes taken with a plastic Diana camera will not make it. Nor will beautifully crafted large-format images of land-fills, just to affirm that these strictures have nothing to do with technique. What is important in being famous is subject matter, subject matter, subject matter. In that order.and he's just getting warmed up. Honestly, go read the guy. You won't regret it.
