Tasting my own medicine…

Not going to mention any names, because that would be quite rude, but over the years there have been quite a lot of artists in music that I’ve voiced my opinions quite hard and what I’ve told friends of mine is that “I love how they play, but their songwriting skills are not very good. They should get someone to write for them instead”. Often my friends have agreed to this, but just as often they’ve argued against me as they like their songwriting skills.

Tasting my own medicine

After my recent trip to Riga I was contacted by the photo studio that I spend a day shooting and they gave me a very good offer to retouch a set of my photos.
I’ve always strongly denied any offers from retouchers, as editing the photos I shoot is way more than half my artistic work. I feel I can’t just rip that out of my process.

Then…

I took a shower and it suddenly dawned on me… This is so close to what I have suggested some musicians should do. Most people might change their minds about what they’ve said others should do, but that’s not really me. I’ve always felt one should have the same opinions no matter what side of the table you are seated. Naturally, experience can make you change your mind and that I feel is a very good thing. I’m not 100% sure right now what I actually am going to use these photos for, but know this. If I ever do this again, I will always, always make it clear if other people have been involved.

I must admit sending the photos made me feel a bit dirty, as if I’d done something wrong.

What do you think about the retouching done by the staff at Yeko Studio?
The black and white photos are my editing.

This isn’t all of them, the remaining I will save for the book and ebook from this shoot. I will include both my edits and these that I didn’t do the retouching on.

Should I do this more often, should I stop editing at all or never do this again?
I’m pleased with their work, they worked really fast and I’m happy with the results.

I’m not going to automatically follow what advice I get, but I would like to hear from you. Comment below or send me an email kenneth@gjesdal.org