Chip Simons... Still Crazy After All These Years...

I love this guy. A forum member linked to it over at the Strobist forum and I got another dose of Chip Simons. Whacky and wild, the guy epitomizes the incredibly talented

EP Resources - Outcast of Originality by Chip Simons: "Chip SimonsAs for me: I feel so mentally free to do whatever I want. I am not trying to impress anyone with my technique or who I have shot. I can still work for stupid magazines and get something out of it. I am not famous or known by anyone but a handful of photographers…maybe. It’s all about the light and the feelings and the ideas. Content is really secondary somehow. I think that innocence; excitement, entertainment, wonder and just plain fun have taken over in my photography. I keep wondering if photography is a means to an end…and I will just quit some day (having gone so far off the deep end that nobody will hire me or buy my pictures)…or if these ideas will lead me to things I never imagined…I wonder…"

• A few of my favorite observations:
• Shoot whatever you want that make s you happy and gets you excited about shooting more and more.
• Don’t try to be like everyone else….think how you can be the opposite.
• Change your perspective…don’t ever show me something from 5 foot 9….I know what it looks like already.
• Show us something we have not seen before….and not your naked body…
• Don’t be so obsessed with taking great pictures…..that’s a horrible pressure to put on yourself.
• Photography is theater and a big fat lie…your subjects are actors and you are just showing me what you want me to see….why be so obsessed with trying to make it look so real. It’s not.You can do anything you want…there are no rules…you could shoot your toenails for 365 days if you want
• You don’t have to focus…or light…or shoot a level horizon…or even right side up….

That is a fun little portion of his list. Check him out, you may just find him creating something in your mind.