“…people who live in poverty are not without hope, that people who are suffering are not without dignity, and that people who are afraid do not lack courage.”

via PDNPulse: James Nachtwey on the Impact of Images.

I love learning about photography from people who are not photographers. Take this video for instance of Michael Bierut. He says a lot of good stuff in here, but much of it spoke to me personally. Sometimes I feel the same about my photography as he does about design.

“I’m not creative.”
“I don’t have ideas that I want to express that I make up myself.”
“The reason I became a designer is I wanted people come to me with problems that I can solve. I know how to do that. I can be creative then.”

I never knew it was ok to feel this way. I always thought I had to be super creative with my photography and personal work. Always have my own projects and such. Well I do have some creative projects but I’ve expected myself to have more. I’ve always felt like more of a photographic problem solver than anything else. I’m sure this is where my love for working at newspapers has come from. Every day it’s a problem to solve.

What’s hard to comprehend is the notion that anyone who works in a creative field must be insanely creative. Obviously not. Bierut has had an impressive career.

He imparts some other secrets to success that are worth pondering.

“If you do what you love and you find other people who do what they love you’ll be successful, you’ll do great work, chances are you’ll actually make money… you’ll be happy.”

And

“Remember who you are doing it for. Remember why you are doing it. And you will not go wrong.”

• http://twitpic.com/m4l2n – Just used geektool to add live traffic cameras from MODot to my desktop. I love that little program. #
• We are so tired of washing bottles that I'm about ready to rig a nipple on to a Camel Pack and strap it to the 4 month old. #
• Hey friends, my daughter tweets! Check it out – http://bit.ly/2yB8Yn #
• Overheard on the scanner that a man called in to turn himself in for DWI as he was driving. That's an honest man. #
• Giant Spider Attacks I-70 http://flic.kr/p/795vqn #
• Hello Wednesday Photo Pizza Lunch! Hungry for some @shakespizza #
• Strange. @shakespizza is a ghost town. Hardly anyone here. #
• This is funny because I've never felt less like a photojournalist than right now – http://bit.ly/29l5m8 (Thanks @pereiraphoto for the link) #
• Pounding out the video web casts for this week. #
• Our little man is sick Doc appointment at three. My guess is croup. #
• The little man has croup. Which is a lot better than many of the other sicknesses going around. #
• Interesting read, and convicting. RT: @kevinplarson: NY Times on Yelling at Our Kids: http://tinyurl.com/yhsrv6a #
• Craziness is happening. Must refocus. #
• Running errands in downtown como is a total fail. #
• ESPN's Chris Berman has a weight loss commercial AND in a commercial for Applebees. Amazing. #
• Shooting the Missouri Texas game tonight and trying to figure out how many layers to wear. #
• Getting ready in the press box. http://twitpic.com/mumsr #
• Heading home. I shot about as bad a Mizzou played #

• Today I’m wearing $10 pants and a $100 smile. #
• Know what makes Monday’s great for me? Dinner at Mom’s house. So blessed to have them close by now. #
• Wonder what I am doing while waiting for the sports guys so we can tape the Web Cast? Looking at The Valley Mag http://bit.ly/4G9GsZ #
• Just had the crap scared out of me by @mint dot com because it’s screwing up my account balances and making them all single digits. #
• Celebrated a weight loss milestone by eating to much ice cream and cookies tonight. #
• Wednesday Photo Pizza Lunch time! This week we might even talk about photojournalism. #
• Nothing like a swift (albeit accidental) kick in the nuts from a 6-year-old to wake you up in the morning. #
• RT @beth_rankin “Yo Balloon Boy, Imma let you finish, but Anne Frank had the best attic hideout spot of all time” #
• Happy that the only bad thing that happened to my 6-year-old today was that her glasses broke. http://twitpic.com/lovid #
• Glad I took my Vitamin D* this morning to help me though the day. #
• *D = Dounuts #
• Follow fellow Nebraskan and all around good guy @joelsartore to see what he’s up to. He makes a few good pictures once in a while too. #FF #
• Parks and Rec told me Tony Hawk will be here from 2-4pm Sat. Cosmo Park. #
• Also @PsideSkateshop CONFIRMED!! TONY HAWK AND THE BIRDHOUSE TEAM WILL BE DOING A DEMO AT SKATEPARK THIS SAT OCT 17TH FROM 2or3pm- DARK!! #
• RT @mbranan @tonyhawk My video clue, I’m sure it will be fun for all…#THTH http://twitvid.com/4CD51 #
• First order of business today. Spend time in the Word. Then pray for patients as I try to fix a water faucet. #
• My #1 rule for DIY repair. When buying replacement parts take everything to the store with you & snap camera phone pics of what you can’t #
• Tony Hawk on the street course in Columbia. http://twitpic.com/lwuee #
• I was a little skate punk in 1987 with a @tonyhawk board, it was awesome to see him skate here in Columbia, Mo. [pic] http://bit.ly/4tfiBs #
• More @tonyhawk skating a demo in Columbia, Mo. to kick of the Birdhouse tour [video] http://bit.ly/Yjh6a #
• At the Mizzou Neb volleyball game. Truman gave V a new hair do. http://twitpic.com/ly880 #

• Rock the Fort @disciplerocks http://twitpic.com/ka8a9 #
• Back home after a powerful day. Road weary and now I need to edit a ton of snaps. #
• Moving 28 photos from today's Rock the Fort. My edit wasn't very tight but I'm too tired to hack it down more. #
• RIP Ival Lawhon Jr. A stalwart Missouri Photojournalist and 2009 Missouri Photojournalism Hall of Fame Inductee http://bit.ly/1KTRUB #
• Public service announcement. http://twitpic.com/kg0l2 #
• Awesome strobist stuff going on in this photo http://bit.ly/WCH4E via http://bit.ly/1a5mXh #
• Way to go mom! "Flour covered musing of crazed ex-caterer" http://bit.ly/zprEW – I loved shooting photos for you http://bit.ly/O15a1 #
• Finished recording the MU Football podcast only moments before the CDT Fire Drill 2009. #
• The upside of having a 5 year old iBook with only an 80gb drive? Backing it up takes no time at all. #
• Wishing I had one of these right about now – OILSKIN BUCKET HAT http://bit.ly/Hu6uL #
• Pondering the Oregonian reorg memo and the two sentences (out of hundreds) that address their photojournalists http://bit.ly/5Ke3d #
• Still trying to decide what to bring to the MU game tonight. Still cameras, video camera or both? #
• Waiting for my video clips to import and then I'm going home to sleep for a couple of hours. #
• Back at work after 3 hours of sleep. #
• RT: @CDTPhoto: Slide Show: Missouri 12, Nebraska 27 – http://bit.ly/4iM4J0 Check out the great photos from Nick and Parker. #
• So I did my very first video package from a football game last night. http://bit.ly/203hp I have a lot to learn. #
• "You don't want to go too big to where you look like you dropped a load in your pants." How to Dress hip-hop http://bit.ly/yRyvc #
• Calling it a day. It's nap time! #
• My boy Riis won't take a nap in his crib. Guess he'll have to nap on my shoulder as we lay on the couch. Shucks #