AzulOx exists for two reasons, to provide compelling imagery for clients and to serve as a vehicle to create works of art for Andrew and myself. This weeks motivation is going to talk about the latter part, creating photographs for an audience of one. Creating work that no one will see, and only for the pleasure of creating the work for yourself.
Watch it, and then let’s talk below.
The Long Game Part 3: Painting in the Dark from Delve on Vimeo.
(Please support the creator, Adam Westbrook, if you can)
We all know the issues Van Gogh encountered, the ear, the madness, Starry Night painted from a psych ward, etc. What I didn’t know was how prolific of an artist he was, creating work on something like 1 every 2 days. Van Gogh had a passion burning in his gut that could only be expressed through pen, pencil, ink and sweat. I assume that he felt at ease only when he was creating something, honing his craft, and studying color theory. I assume that because I understand the zen that comes when a camera is in my hand up to my eye.
Let’s tell another story.
Last year Andrew and I along with our creative crew headed out to the desert to make photos for ourselves. We talked about submitting them to magazines and online publications, but that wasn’t the goal. We wanted to push ourselves, expand our boundaries and create new work. They ended up being a set of some of my favorite work of 2015. We are heading to the desert again this year for the same goal. We want to burn bright as a firefly in the night. 
After watching the Van Gogh film, it strikes through me to disregard the need for likes, shares and comments in our personal work. To create for the sheer joy and zen of holding a camera in front of something new again and again until our vision and technique is refined enough to show in prints what we imagine internally.
What work would you create even knowing that only an audience of one will see it? Would love to read and hear what is percolating inside all of you.
–JB
To Josh, life is one big adventure. He founded AzulOx Visuals in 2009, AzulOx Commercial Photography in 2014 and has been exploring the world and new photographic techniques ever since. Josh loves to use his photographs to tell stories, and he excels in designing creative story-boarded shoots. Josh is passionate about photography and the creative development of his students. He uses a variety of teaching techniques to help his students realize their photographic vision.
Josh is a husband and father to 2 young boys- who are junior models and photographers in training.