The following is a excerpt from a letter Stephen Shore sent a recent art school graduate who was struggling with the moral and practical implications of being an artist in New York City. 

“…Having ambition is not a problem. In fact, ambition is necessary to be able to carve out the time needed to produce your work from the multitude of other demands on your life. The question is how that ambition is directed. If you adhere to your personal path, having shows and sales will not do any harm. In fact, you might actually make enough money to live, even live well. There’s nothing at all wrong with that. The problem comes when the market begins to influence your motives and decisions. If your work needs to evolve and change, it may mean abandoning an approach that brought you recognition.

Of course, you do want to establish your voice as an artist and to, as you put it, “develop a true sense of self.” But if you wait until you know you’ve finally found it, you may never have a show. Finding your voice may be a process, not a goal. I have students who start studying photography in college and tell me that they want to “express themselves.” I think to myself, “You’re only eighteen, how can you express yourself when you don’t know yourself?” But that shouldn’t deter them. In learning and practicing an art, they may embark on the path of finding themselves….”