Three Thought Thursday

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Dear Reader,

Who knew college photography could be so interesting?

This past week, I read a fascinating article documenting an experiment conducted by photographer and professor Jerry Uelsmann in a class he taught at the University of Florida.

He split his class into two groups. For an entire semester, they had one mission: Group 1 would be graded solely on the number of photos they produced, while Group 2 would be graded solely on the quality of a single photo they submitted.

Volume vs. Quality.

A funny thing happened by the end of the semester. Not only did the first group produce more photos, but they also produced a much higher volume of the best work. More volume made Group 1 better photographers.

Volume—that’s the theme for this Three Thought Thursday.

A Crazed Artist

What if I told you chopping off his own ear wasn't the craziest thing this artist ever did? Vincent van Gogh is often celebrated for creating some of the most iconic paintings in the history of the world: The Potato Eaters, his self-portrait, The Bedroom in Arles, and, of course, The Starry Night—his most famous painting ever. But what you may not know is that the vast majority of van Gogh's masterpieces can be attributed to a single, effortful, 10-year sprint. Van Gogh wasn't very good at painting throughout most of his life, which may seem shocking. However, a switch flipped when he turned 27, and until his death at 37, he produced over 2,100 artworks, including over 800 oil paintings. For context, on average, a painting from start to finish takes around 15 hours. Now, some take dramatically more time, and some take only a few minutes, but from initial thought to final stroke, it averages around 15 hours. This means van Gogh, in 10 years, spent over 30,000 hours painting—or three and a half straight years painting. Over that time, van Gogh produced a ton of work: portraits, still lifes, and landscapes. This allowed him to master different areas of painting, like color theory, brushwork, and composition. But that wasn't all. He explored Japanese prints, which helped him master bold stroke lines and vibrant colors, evident in The Starry Night. His prolific output and relentless practice across many different types of paintings enabled him to create his own expressive, swirly, and emotionally intense style, resulting in works worth millions.

Extended seasons of sprinting produce iconic creative outputs.

Beyond a Caged Bird

Her words drip off the page. Maya Angelou is arguably the most famous female writer in history and certainly the most well-known Black writer of all time…but that would be selling her short. Maya was much more than a writer. Although, she was, in fact, a damn good one and produced a TON of work. She's most famous for her autobiography "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” The crazy thing is that it is only one of seven autobiographies she produced over her life. Many people write one if any at all. She wrote SEVEN. She could have been known as an autobiographer, but she also wrote several volumes of poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize nomination. She produced the same output as some of the best poets of all time. But she wasn't done there. She produced three books of essays—hundreds of individual essays. She also produced numerous plays, movies, and TV shows, including being the first Black woman ever to have a screenplay produced. Maya was on a mission. Her output in these individual writing practices would have made her a top 1% creator in any of them. A career’s work of discipline for 5 separate careers. But Maya was on a mission to master the greatest discipline: storytelling. She didn't want just to be known as an autobiographer, poet, essay writer, director, or screenplay producer. She wanted to be known as a storyteller, so she learned every single nuance of storytelling she could. The volume of work paid off, as her poetic prose was clearly seen influencing her autobiographies. While her most iconic work came through an autobiography, she mastered every nuance of storytelling and produced volumes upon volumes of those works until she became a true master.

Master the discipline by mastering the nuances.

The Original Elon

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." We all learned about this man growing up in elementary school. Elon Musk is even drawing comparisons as the modern-day version of him. Thomas Edison held over 1,000 patents during his life. Talk about a prolific volume of inventing. Out of all 1,000 patents, one is his masterpiece, and three are what he's known for: the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and most famously, the practical electric light bulb. Edison produced in volumes, which led him to unlock a key. At his headquarters in Menlo Park, he created a very collaborative work environment where multiple projects and patents were often underway simultaneously. While for 99% of the population, that would create major headaches and stress, for Edison, it fostered innovation and cross-pollination of different ideas. Ideas that ultimately contributed to his success with the light bulb. He produced so much work that he could piece together something cutting-edge by taking just the best 1% from all of his patents. Work which now, decades later, we still discuss (and use).

Cross-pollination creates cutting-edge innovation.

The road to mastery is paved with loads of volume. It’s time to get to work.

Grateful for you,

Tommy

P.S. Can you do me a favor if you learned something new in this edition? Forward this letter to a friend who may not know about one of these three stories.