There’s a bare wall in my house that I’ve been meaning to decorate with some of my photographs, creating a gallery wall. I mentally selected the prints last year, however, before finally ordering the prints, I created a ‘sample’ gallery wall to get a first-hand idea of how it would eventually look.
As I created the gallery wall I had originally envisioned (above), I realized that including only the top three images would visually result in a much stronger gallery wall. I decided to let go of the bottom two images, even though I love them. This process of elimination reminded me of a quote shared by one of my photography instructors, “kill your darlings.” He used it in the context of creating a strong, coherent body of work, even if it meant getting rid of your favorite images. (The original quote is by author William Faulkner used in the context of writing: “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.”)
This may not be your typical “kill your darlings” situation. Afterall, hanging artwork in one’s own home is personal and subjective! But it surely got me thinking about how difficult it must be for writers/artists/photographers to eliminate their ‘favorites’ that don’t make the cut as a part of a larger body of work. I’m sure it’s a long learning curve, but I must say, I’m quite satisfied with the triptych I finally settled on!
This may not be your typical “kill your darlings” situation. Afterall, hanging artwork in one’s own home is personal and subjective! But it surely got me thinking about how difficult it must be for writers/artists/photographers to eliminate their ‘favorites’ that don’t make the cut as a part of a larger body of work. I’m sure it’s a long learning curve, but I must say, I’m quite satisfied with the triptych I finally settled on!
Stay tuned for the final outcome!
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