The Unfinished Symphony
The sets I publish are rarely their first versions. Most of them go through several iterations before reaching the version that feels right. Take Wave, for instance. It began as a humorous photo story of my hike to Mori Point titled Mildly Lost at Mori Point, before eventually becoming what it is now — a sombre set of postcards.
Between the first and final versions of my sets, along with the other unfinished photos, sketches, reels, and blog posts, lies a growing creative archive. It used to haunt me. I’ve always been a sucker for closure — so leaving something halfway felt like failure. Over time, though, I’ve learned to see it differently.
In hindsight, I was probably equating “finished” with success. Or maybe I was worried that if I abandoned an idea, I wouldn’t find another one. Sometimes it was frustration — not being able to match what I envisioned. Other times it was the silent pressure to ship something for an invisible audience. None of these were real.
Leaving things unfinished is OK. Your incomplete work is an experiment — a reflection of your curiosity. It’s part of the process that leads to your finished work. It shows how your thinking, craft, and taste evolve. And when you revisit it later, it might serve as inspiration or even as a starting point for something new.
Mildly Lost at Mori Point is a good example. Though I abandoned it, it became the seed for Larry. If I had forced the first idea to completion, Larry might never have existed. The stalled set helped me understand what I actually wanted to create — and how to execute it with the right tone and ingredients.
This mindset has made me a bolder creator. I experiment more. I no longer treat every start as a contract to finish. Each attempt teaches me something new, and every lesson adds a layer to my craft.
Every creator’s portfolio is an unfinished symphony. Each fragment, theme, pause, and improvisation shapes your taste, craft, and curiosity. Maybe the point of creating isn’t to complete every song — but to keep the music playing.