A long time ago, I was not careful. Some internet sites had linked my name with my work and my blog so that anyone who knew me and was interested enough could eventually find me here. It happened last night with someone, and as has happened so many times before with women who read my writing (whether in the form of journals or a blog). . . .
I think I will have to take this blog down. Over the years it has caused me trouble. It doesn't seem fair and the site has never brought me fame nor fortune. Perhaps it is time to try to turn my attention to things that will benefit me in the future. Maybe I'll kill the studio as well. An anonymous artistic life that serves a few hundred people is hardly a reason to compromise the rest of your life unless you are truly mad. I am not. I am far too reasonable and rational.
I like to tell myself that there are no other photographers posting a picture a day for as long as I have. I like to tell myself that there are few other writers outside of journalists who post a writing a day. I am pretty convinced that there is no one doing both simultaneously. It is more work than is reasonable for no return except a sense of personal satisfaction.
Except that I don't seem to be able to stop. If I kill this blog, I will start another one, probably, more anonymous, harder to link to my identity. For those of you who have corresponded with me over the years, I will send you a link if you send me an email. I don't know. I'm just feeling stung right now. Perhaps tomorrow I will feel that I have been served an injustice. But I cannot tell tales when people associate it all literally with the real person and not the narrator. Hemingway suffered this, too, when he wrote "The Sun Also Rises," but he benefited more, heralded as the writer of his time. He made lots of money. And he never based his work on people he knew again. I, on the other hand. . . am just some silly oaf.
Someday it will all end any way, one way or another.
it would be a shame to end this blog, for the only pretext that other people can write and shoot like you do. It would be unreasonable because what you do is really unique and interesting. It would be a great lack on the web. Regarding the fact that people may confuse the narrator and the real person is somehow inevitable, since you precisely play on this ambiguity, and often you seem to have fun with that. Anyway, even if you were telling a story writing "he" instead of "I", the ambiguity would remain, and basically it's not so important. The point is precisely that we believe in your tales. People need to believe that it really happened. This is true because it is written. Basically it does not matter. I happened to write short stories. I changed the name of the main personnage, having made a woman, people told me "you tell a story that happened to you" .... Continue to delight your readers. Seen from Paris, it's perfect .... Good luck ....
ReplyDeletedon't stop
ReplyDeleteHello.
ReplyDeleteThis is not meant as an official comment, and I neither expect nor want you to publish it. With this pseudo-comment I only wish to make friends and to let you know who at least one of your Swedish readers are.
Both you and I know that your work - or the work of anyone with a connection to one's creative stream - can't be stopped. We're talking Juggernaut here, something never grinding to a halt.
I beg your forgiveness for being a lurker, a free loader. It shall not always be like that. We're a community, after all, and words deserve words in return.
Anyway, I'd like to continue reading, so if you make the move, please do email me a link to your blog's new whereabouts to
johanlindbergbrusewitz@gmail.com
I hope you have a wonderful March day.
Warm regards,
Johan
O.K. We'll go a bit further. But I'm waiting for the flying monkeys.
ReplyDelete