2/16/07

Lots of people might not know this, for as much as I talk about music, but I don't much think of myself as a musician anymore. I mean, I make music. I love music. But, I'm an artist. I didn't always know that, but I do now. I figured it out when I put down the trumpet a few years ago. I thought I was putting it down to focus on writing music and producing. What I realized was that there are other things that I love just as much as making music. Generally, I just love art. I don't particulary care what the medium is.
My latest obsession is photography. With photography, I'm still in those early stages, where it's all I can think about. I've made so much music, at this point, that it's not quite as surprising to me when I do it right. Still exciting, but not a shock. With photography, every idea is a new idea. Every well executed shot is, well.......usually luck. But I love it. And so I've been spending a good bit of time on it lately. My hope is to one day be equally accomplished at both art forms. I should point out, to whomever might wonder, that this shouldn't be a surprise. I did study photography (along with fiction, poetry, and music). I like to remind people of that, when they refer to me as a musician. I'm an artist. Music is my first love, not my one and only.
I say all that to say this. If you see me wandering the streets of Pittsburgh with a camera in my hand, don't give me strange looks. Just say cheese.