Limitations
I stumbled upon a wonderful quote about creativity when I was reading a book about waiting. “The enemy of art is the absence of limitation.” - Orson Welles. I instantly related to this quote and how it affected my photography through analysis paralysis.We live in a time of wonderful abundance. An era where if you have the means you can own almost anything. We live in a time where people keep creating things to make our lives easier, faster and more instant. With this abundance of choice our first obstacle isn’t starting something but rather how should we proceed.
Minimalism and photography
Now before I get into it, I'm not talking about the aesthetics of minimalism in photography, I'm talking about the life choices and social movement of minimalism and its effect on me as a photographer.With that out of the way, I wanted to tell you that what I consider minimalism might not be your definition. There are so many iterations. Lifestyle, aesthetic, spiritual, bullet journal etc. But let me put you in the right mindset. The Minimalists define it like this.“Minimalism is a tool to rid yourself of life’s excess in favour of focusing on what’s important—so you can find happiness, fulfilment, and freedom.”
Forming habits
Let say you want to photograph, edit and upload a photo to Instagram every day of the week? That’s 365 photos, that’s a lot of work. How about 5 days a week. That's more achievable and gives you the weekend to take images and edit them for the whole week, rather than a daily commitment spanning the year. How about three images a week. That's doable, you could do that. How about one image a week, now that’s easy. That's where you start, with easy.
Photographing with less
Minimalism, Marie Kondo, tidying up, goodbye things, less is more. You might have heard of these things if you have ever scrolled through Netflix or Youtube. You might have even come across a few articles on social media referring to decluttering or getting rid of your stuff, or simple living. Minimalism is becoming a social movement, culturally recognised. We have a lot of items in our lives that don’t bring value (daily joy). I would like to enlighten you if I may about adopting this movement into your photography and to try photographing with less.
Productivity & Photography
I have two words for you Bullet Journal. Now you might be thinking what does journaling have to do with photography. One is writing and note taking, the other is making photographs and being creative. Photography takes a lot of technical know-how, as well as creativity. Creativity requires expression, ideas and a medium to showcase your thoughts and vision. Taking notes, be it in a notebook, iPhone, journal or napkin, reinforces your thoughts and ideas. Notes can help to achieve tasks. Whenever you get an idea you run the risk of losing it if you don't write it down. The Yin and Yan world of photography is left and right brain-dependent, balancing creativity and productivity, which fits perfectly with Bullet Journaling.
What if we all had the same gear?
What if you had the same camera, lighting and subject matter as everyone else. A groundhog day for a photographer so to speak. If we all have the same gear what would make you different? “Imagine you had no way of visually showing someone any of your work, and they ask you to describe what you’re about, not your genre, but what is the essence of what you’re trying to achieve?” This quote from Katy Niker is something we should all think about and consider when pressing the shutter button. What is it that you're trying to achieve beyond visuals?
Supply and demand
We all know the importance of photography. Be it journalisms role in changing the world. To a wonderful moment captured of someone's special day. As photographers, we value our craft and the importance it has in our lives. But the market is valuing it less and less. Why is that? What is happening? Bear with me on this analogy but photography is like water. Without water, we wouldn't be here, its one of the most valuable resources on this earth. But for some reason it's cheap. That's because it's abundant, it's everywhere and accessible to almost everyone, which drives down the cost and value of it. Much like photography is today.
The journey to mastery
We are a generation that was raised on the short term gratification of TV & the internet. We think and believe we can have anything right now. If we can’t, we google search for a hack to hurry the process and get there sooner. This subconscious influence from TV and the internet is what makes short-term gains so appealing. Why wait when I can have or do it right now.
How putting down the camera made me a better photographer
Straight off the bat, this sounds counter-intuitive. After all its through practising and doing that progresses our skills as a photographer, this is true. In contrast, stepping away from the camera or putting it down, I have noticed something that wasn't there before and that skill helped improve how I photographed.
What is missing from photography
It has been bugging me for a while now, there is just something that is missing from photography. From my personal work to the majority of photographers out there. I’m talking about the photos on your feeds, be it personal to commercial. It has been bugging me and I finally found out what it is, what is missing from photography, is stories.
The editor's mind
Before I write I think to myself what can I communicate that will bring value to my readers. Should I write a gear review because these kinds of articles get the most interactions, but they get the least meaningful responses? When I write about value, meaning, purpose, finding yourself, discipline these articles get fare fewer readers but more significant responses. The question is do I want reach or depth? But even contemplating this kind of thought is what I call The Editor's Mind, thinking, and trying to control something before it has even happened.
Is Instagram dying?
Is Instagram dying? Here is a quote a fellow photographer shared with me.“Although I feel Instagram offers a really beautiful opportunity to connect with others, share art and reach people on a large scale on topics that deserve recognition and attention, I’m finding that it’s becoming harder and harder to feel excited, stimulated or inspired scrolling through my feed.”
The ways of Zen photography
When most people think of the word Zen, a meditating monk in a monastery comes to mind, a practice of enlightenment, a person being in the present or someone without attachments. When I think of Zen, I think of a lifestyle that has profoundly influenced my photography practice. I would like to dive into the ways of zen photography and how it might enlighten your creative practice.
Nature for inspiration
I just read a book covering the benefits of nature and how it helps improve human health among many other claims. I’m sure many of you would question or speculate on the validity of these claims and I did too. One thing I did read that interested me, taking a walk in nature, away from the noises and sights of the city along with the absence of digital screens, improves creativity.
Teaching photographic style.
I’ve been thinking about photography and personal style and the different ways to teach it. I’m trying to help, share and guide people along their way in finding their unique photographic style. Seeing if I can find that quick fix, that beaten path someone else has already made for us.
Gratitude
There is something all-newcomer photographers tend to do, they either dream of camera gear or buy a lot of it. When I started in photography I went through the same thing. I thought that I needed all the lenses that my idols used, I believed I needed the biggest megapixel camera, with all the film features just in case a potential client wanted video. But over time with age came wisdom.
The secret to being a great photographer
Now there are so many ways and paths one can go down to make a great photographer. Everyone has their own style, process, history, personality and way they produce their work. But the one thing that great photographers have in common is determination, grit and perseverance.
Play to your strengths
Something just hit me when it comes to getting peoples attention in the modern age. That is, play to your strengths. I'm a photographer and I would like to think I'm good at my job and hobby. Now in this day and age, as a freelancer, being great at our job isn't good enough. We have to promote our work, company, workshop or service. We need to somehow get the word out there. Digitally putting our hand up and saying "Hey look at me, over here."
Why take photos
It’s a hard and easy question, depending on how deep you want to go.Many people want to capture a moment, archive a memory. Some people want to express themselves or other peoples stories. Some want to show you something, be it a travesty or crime to a shiny object to entice you to buy it. For others capturing a photo is meditative or therapy. We all have our own reasons to capture a photo.
Phases
As creatives, we all go in and out of phases. Be it trying something new, putting a twist on previous work to outright stopping our practice to follow other endeavours. We buy new gear in hopes it will change something, be it adopt a new way to look at things. Whatever you're going through or been through we all have Phases.