12 — Consistency vs. Harmony
Adapted from a previously published MEMORY CULT Essay, 2022
Consistency: showing steady conformity
OKAY PARTY PEOPLE, let's talk about "consistency" in our work
When a word is repeated often in the photography world it catches my interest
Consistency is one of those words; it’s used as a goal
Consistency of what?
Here’s a concept I like better when it comes to art: gestalt
Gestalt is German for “unified whole”
Gestalt: an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts
Applied to our ends, it means visual harmony
In art theory, it explores the relationship between the parts and the whole of a visual experience
The stronger the grouping, the stronger the gestalt
A portfolio of images in its various forms of presentation (website, photo book, gallery, Instagram) rely on gestalt principles to communicate
A mature communicator relies on both adhering to and breaking them, and being in control of those levers
I have not known a single photographer that didn’t at least ask the question about whether they should have more than one instagram account
As always, they are tools to be used toward goals: expression, business, and dear god, for fun
The stronger the gestalt, the stronger the client bookings
Think of gestalt as the difference between when every part of an outfit “matches” vs. when things “go” with the fit, ya know?
I’ll give some advice here and remember you don’t have to take it
There are plenty of successful photographers who innovate streams of income and don’t follow these ideas
But they work
Gestalt is a principle of psychology; it’s how we take in imagery, and the reason we care about whether our feeds are “consistent”
The advice is: find what you have to say and say it in every image
If that exercise fucks you all up, then you have something broader to say than your first guess
My feed is color and black and white, landscape and portrait, client and personal, flash and polaroid, flay lays and reels
It is chaotic, but in harmony
They images work together to amount to one visual thing: the life of a photo memoirist
They all feel like personal memory
They all feel sentimental
They all feel like the stance of the subjective viewer
They are the Being John Malkovich tunnel to my mind
They are from the same world
That world has no time
If you find yourself getting pissed about “consistency” on Instagram, consider identifying your gestalt principle
Search for it, but don’t dare get enslaved
Finding it should be the most freeing thing in the world
I do it all by gut; I know what a feed image is by how it makes me feel
I reverse engineer it for your benefit, if you need it
Remember timelessness is my measure, not necessarily yours
Gestalt harmony is a powerful tool for creative satisfaction and generating wealth