I think to be a creative kind of person, there is a certain level of mercilessness required. At least, if you want to be the type of creative person who learns and grows. And when I say mercilessness, I certainly don’t advocate being merciless toward others.

Actually, what I’m referring to is a kind of inward-turned ruthlessness toward ourselves and our own work. Again, I don’t mean that we should be unkind to ourselves. Rather, you could call this perfectionism, except the idea of perfectionism doesn’t quite fit. Let me explain, and you’ll soon see the quality to which I’m referring...

Just a guess on my part, but I would say that most photographers who are serious about producing art are by nature perfectionists. There’s something about the artmaking process that draws perfectionists in, I think. Perhaps it’s the myriad of details that one must account for when creating a photograph, painting, or some other work.

At any rate, as any perfectionist can tell you, it’s exhausting to be a perfectionist! That’s because all of those details that attract us to the art form in the first place? In the pursuit of perfection, we obsess over them endlessly...