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The singer says that she
cannot afford to feel the emotion contained within the song while she
is singing it. That her professional presentation of the music, the
craft, must come first otherwise she will not fully be the medium,
the carrier of the music. The audience feels the impact of the music
because of her intermediary skill.
I reach for a parallel
from photography, one that until now I have struggled to express to
those who cannot understand that an emotional reaction to a subject,
- to a child, or a sunset for example-, is not all that is necessary
to make a good photograph.
Like the singer, the
photographer has a responsibility to communicate as clearly as
possible. At the point of communication the audience's reaction is
the important part, not the emotions of the maker. How the image is
composed is the equivalent to the musical skills of the singer. 'Oh,
what a beautiful child, such a splendid sunset', can only be the very
first reaction before the maker gets down to the technical aspects of
his presentation. The photographers who feel only as they
take and process their image are failing in their craft. They must
know what ingredients will best express what they wish to
communicate. Satisfaction must come from one's skill, not from an
emotional pushing forward of a poorly thought through image. Our
expression must be channelled through technical ability and
knowledge.
Similarly, a writer has
the difficult task of taking a raw subject, all bumps and flaws, and
presenting it in a comprehensible way to his audience. A musical
composer must find a form within which to present his ideas. No one
can really afford to get stuck at that first reactive stage,
everything must be passed through a refining process of creation.
Creativity in the arts is not simply personal expression.
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