“Mediocre is better than nothing”

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Having been a Photography major in college, I was interested to read Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs by Sally Mann.  (NOTE: this book isn’t the usual type of book I read.  A warning that there is language among other scenarios that are foreign to my lifestyle choices.)

She has been considered a controversial photographer for the way she has photographed, and then displayed, her daily life with her children.  But without getting into that, with listening to her voice from behind the camera, there was a section in the book where she discusses being an artist.

She discusses how fear can hold you back from doing anything.  Fear of failing.  Fear of too much of yourself being put on display.  Fear of perfection.  And I understand all of that throughout my years of being an artist, and how I have changed and how that has affected my thoughts, my process, my work.  But her quote is spoken so true and I take it as a fresh challenge as I step back into my art this year.  Get up and do SOMETHING because it is better than nothing.

“Maybe you’ve made something mediocre—there’s plenty of that in any artist’s cabinets—but something mediocre is better than nothing…” (Sally Mann)