What I learnt from ‘The Meaning in the Making’

My review of Sean Tucker’s excellent book for the creatives

Sean Tucker has been a guru to me over the past couple of years in my journey as an aspiring photographer. By profession, I am an architect and would never really call myself a photographer, though it is something I enjoy immensely. But if in some capacity I do fit the title, I have Sean to thank. It’s from Sean that I learnt the true meaning of being a photographer – right from his tutorials on technical aspects, to his reflections on photography as an art form – how to ‘get small and tell the truth’ as he so often likes to echo John Mayer.

So when I got to know that he wrote a book for the creatives titled ‘The Meaning in the Making’ I had to jump in and grab a copy. There was a long wait until it released in India, and came on Amazon, but I was still pretty buzzed when it made its way to me several months later.

I’m perplexed by the major thrust of the book which Sean establishes from the start. Why do we, as humans, create? The simplest answer to this is that in this wide expansive universe – certainly too wide and bewildering for our human brains to comprehend – we seek to create because we want to create order out of chaos. Sean goes on to say “Ofcourse, if art is our attempt to pull Order from chaos in the small ways we can, ultimately it’s as useless as trying to plug leaks in a galling damn with our fingers. In the long run, we will fail in our attempts to hold Chaos back… …But there is something wonderfully human in the knowingly futile attempt, and no better way I can think of to spend a life”.

Ofcourse, if art is our attempt to pull Order from chaos in the small ways we can, ultimately it’s as useless as trying to plug leaks in a galling damn with our fingers. In the long run, we will fail in our attempts to hold Chaos back… …But there is something wonderfully human in the knowingly futile attempt, and no better way I can think of to spend a life.

Sean Tucker

One thing I found very relatable is Sean’s narration of how, in his early days, had done a series of portraits of a particular tribal community in Namibia. While at the time he felt quite proud of his results, to his dismay, his work was dismissed by one of the creative directors. His photos may have been great, in terms of their physical appearance – but what about the meaning behind the photos? They did not speak about his inward journey as a photographer and perhaps he did not dig deep enough within himself to understand the kind of subjects that resonated with him. They were probably just aesthetic pictures at the end of the day – nothing more. Nevertheless, this realisation was an important step in his journey.

Over the past years, I found myself in very similar situations – I would often take my camera to the streets and fire away recklessly. I remember being quite proud of having shot over 500 pictures in a day, but what was the point if all those images were of meaningless subjects, devoid of any context, or of something that did not speak to me at all. Was it just to feed the gram? I hadn’t quite understood the true meaning of being a photographer yet, and I clearly had a long way to go. Sean Tucker’s YouTube channel where he shared his views and philosophies on photography helped steer me onto a more truthful path – and I will always be grateful for that. It’s reassuring to see him expand upon those very concepts from his videos in his book.

It all comes back to this mantra that Sean likes to echo from John Mayer – Get small and tell the truth. I’ve learnt that we need to introspect and think about what we want to capture, or rather, what needs to be recorded of this precious life, and what stories need to be told. It’s quite crazy how we all have a unique voice with unique set of stories to tell. You don’t have to travel to a new exotic location so that you can produce great images, as we often tend to think. Sometimes the best stories are right in our backyards – It’s all about cultivating the sense of being aware of this and realizing the value of the little things in life.

We should make more of a conscious effort to tell our truth – and to do this we must look within, document our stories, the people we love and the things that have shaped us. If we are to tell the true story of a place, I’ve come to learn that it is important to showcase the faces behind them, the people of the soil, the everyday characters who are legends in their own right, and other intangible aspects about the place, thus establishing its context. You don’t have to play too many tricks.

No matter how embarrassing, I accept the follies of my initial years – it was after all, part of my ‘creative breath’, another brilliant concept Sean talks about. Using a brilliant analogy of how one needs to learn how to breath to take in enough air to support the singing of a note, similarly, we need to go through a process of getting inspired, cultivating curiosity and learning from the masters – i.e. take in a creative breath before we go out there and start creating.

The book is replete with such amazing lessons – like Sean’s refreshing take on ego, how creatives can handle social media, and the importance of discipline and mentors. I highly recommend anyone trying to understand the meaning behind creating and how to grow as a creator, to pick up this book that’s written in a way that’s meant for any creative person – be it an artist, designer, writer or singer, you name it.

I think it’s fitting how towards the end of the book, Sean tries to drive home one of the central philosophies of life – Embrace your Shadows, Protect your Highlights. Through this very amusing photography pun, Sean reminds us to accept our shadows – our dark times in life, but at the same time remind ourselves of our intrinsic worth and enjoy the light of life.