Slowing Down: A Different Way
“A View to Fall”
Hello,
As the world seems to grow smaller and more connected digitally, there is still the rush and go, go, go mentality. Deadlines, to do lists, projects for “the boss” and even projects for yourself seem to pull us in many directions at once. And for me, like many of us who do something creative as a side gig, trying to do my day job and get better at my art, can feel overwhelming.
So, giving someone the advice to “just slow down,” can often feel trite and dismissive with all that is going on. Because, I do feel engage in both my day job and my art, and I want to do well at both. So, is there maybe a different way to thinking about what slowing down means?
“Mina’s Bench at Carolina Bay”
Early on in my return to photography I ran across the group calling themselves the Slow Photography Movement (SPM). Up to this point I was struggling with what and how I was going to photograph. Since I wasn’t going to be a newspaper photographer this time around, I didn’t have those daily assignments to give me direction and purpose. I was planning to be a landscape/nature artist, so I would need to be completely self-directed. On the positive side, being self-directed means I get to decide what my “assignments” will be. But on the “not-so positive” (can’t write negative) side, I need to come up with assignments myself, as well as photograph them.
When I saw the SPM website and the first bullet point on their list of goals, I knew I had found a home and a group of people to connect with and help give me a direction of sorts. Their first bullet point is: “Focus on the photographic experience, encouraging a slow and personal approach to seeing and appreciating nature.” As I started reading more about them, I internalized this message as not just “slowing down” per say, but also taking a longer-term view of my career, my art and my appreciation for nature.
“Bench and Trees in Fog at Virginia Acres”
Goals of the Slow Photography Movement
Focus on the photographic experience, encouraging a slow and personal approach to seeing and appreciating nature.
Tell engaging stories about the context in which an impactful image was captured.
Emphasize quality over quantity, by prioritizing thoughtful and respectful attitudes towards photographic subjects.
Build community among photographers that practice a slow approach, revealing unique perspectives and celebrating common experiences.
Within a short time, I had gone from a frantic mindset of telling myself I was too old, and way too behind all the other landscape photographers, and there were too many new skills to learn, and there was really no way to catch up, and, and, and…, to realizing there is no race to the top. It helped me see the point of getting back into photography (or any creative pursuit) was to gain more skills, experience the world in a new way, and, more importantly, enjoy myself. This also helped allow me to look at the longer view of where I wanted to go.
For me there are two ways to interpret this first part of the SPM goal of “focus on the photographic experience”. The first seems to be the more obvious of being very aware of how you might be experiencing one particular day or moment of photographing – be it in your front yard or a local park or some epic location. The second, and more profound for me, was to think of the “photographic experience” as my whole photographic career – hopefully spanning the rest of my life. This shift removed a huge weight off me. To me this meant that each time I did something photographic, it was not a lone experience, but part of a longer journey and process of getting better at my creative pursuit. There weren’t “good” and “bad” photographic days, there were now just days. I was now more free to play with, experience and explore my creativity.
“Midfall at Boyd Pond”
“(SPM) helped me see the point of getting back into photography was to gain more skills, experience the world in a new way, and, more importantly, enjoy myself.”
This took away the manic feeling I’ve had, and have heard others talk about, that when going out into the field I’d think: “I have to come back with something great”. If you have done any type of creative endeavor for more than five minutes, you know you don’t make something great every single time. Though, what I think is the real goal and joy of creating, is experiencing something worthwhile and seeing how in might fit into the overall journey.
So, the idea of slowing down might not be so much about looking at your day-to-day life, though more how each deliberate step you make helps move you along the longer path of your career and life. I hope this helps all of us move away from the pressure of “I need to make something great today” to “I’d like to do something that helps me create something better today.”
Thank you, and keep creating what you do.
Patrick Krohn
December 2025
P.S.: The Slow Photography Movement is not as active as it once was, though their message is one worth exploring. Please visit their site slowphotographymovement.com and explore what others have written about the SPM.
“Take a Break, Downtown Aiken, SC.”