Isamu Noguchi (1904 – 1988) was an American artist and landscape architect who enjoyed an incredibly varied and fruitful sixty-year career. Look him up. It’ll take you half an hour to get through his bio and resumé.
So, it’s with no small interest that I bring you this quote. The man obviously knew what he was talking about and his statement once again brings credibility to the notion that being serious about your profession isn’t just a question of doing. It also implies a commitment to growing and being open to new points of view, even if they might contradict what was previously accepted as truth.
“I’m never satisfied with my work…but I am always experimenting. It’s my way of finding out about things, and sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.”
I can’t think of a more important quality for cinematographers to embrace. No matter how detailed our plans, nothing we do on set turns out precisely the way we intended. In a sense, everything is an experiment. Once you accept the uncertainty of that, the way is paved for the release of true creativity.
There’s really no alternative. Long, hard experience has shown… resistance is futile!
I love this quote and insight Richard. Blessed to have visited The Noguchi Museum in Queens NYC many times. Noguchi’s words along with his work have brought a sense of confidence to my own explorations. His belief in the process blows my mind, when I consider that he was often working in stone!