At any time, every photographer hits a wall where inspiration may wander away. I have personally had many points in my life where the camera became more of an enemy than a friend and sat on the shelf.
COVID has caused some absolutely mind crushing days. The boredom and lack of social connection can grind your creativity to a standstill, but only if you let it. I have to admit I came close over the past year to just giving up. It felt like the universe was absolutely against me chasing my photography dreams. I had many days and nights staring at a blank screen wondering if I could turn it around.
The pandemic has created such a dilemma for photographers. Landscape photographers have been restricted to where they can go and portrait photographers can’t shoot in their studios and are limited to what they can do outdoors depending on geographic location. Commercial photographers are as equally obstructed as wedding and sports photographers.
So what to do?
Before You Tube and the near endless supply of social media options, books and magazines became the source for my own search to be inspired. Photographers such as Joe McNally, Joey L. and Sebastiao Salgado published books that were my “go to” for all things inspiration. One book I fall back on every now and then is Photographic Theory, An Historical Anthology by Andrew E. Hershberger. The book doesn’t have one image in it….but speaks to how photography and photographers have evolved over time. The book is a series of excerpts by photographers and writers all with photography as the basis of their discussions. It’s easy to read in the sense that it doesn’t follow a true evolution of photographic theory so you can cherry pick your articles….break the rules and read the book from back to front if you so choose.
In this crazy time, however, I have reverted to the easy path of internet options and for the good …have discovered some amazing photographers across the world. For the bad …it means sitting for long periods of time in front of my computer resulting in feeling a wee bit disengaged.
One particular photographer who I have become very interested in is Sean Tucker from the UK. Sean shares a great deal of his personal journey, psychology, and excellent tutorials in a way that draws you in and assures you that all will be good. He speaks loudly about giving meaning to your work. His commitment to having an empathetic eye has caused me to self-reflect on what photography really means to me and I can say without hesitation that it has soundly replanted my feet on the ground. It has re-invigorated my enthusiasm to keep shooting.
But…more COVID restrictions meant more delays in regaining momentum.
A number of years ago I decided to improve my portrait skills by participating in a yearlong project of shooting one self-portrait every week for 52 weeks. The yearlong project resulted in a photobook that now sits buried on my bookshelf. The thing is that regardless of what other photographer I am inspired by I always make a point of pulling it out and stumbling thru the past. The images, although awkward to some degree, still offer some self-inspiration. Taking a self-portrait for most photographers is hard to do. We prefer to be, for the most part hidden behind the camera , not in front of it.
So after trying everything the internet had to offer, listening to what Sean Tucker had to say, and thumbing thru books loaded with images I truly admire I returned to a place of comfort….the self-portrait.
The difference between what and how I shoot now is simple…experience. I have a better understanding of the gear ( haven’t really added anything new over time ) and how to use it to be more creative. The biggest difference now however in my opinion is confidence. Confidence in the how, the why and the sheer fact that as I get older I just don’t care what other people think. Putting myself out there is much easier now than it was in 2007 when I participated in that defining 52 Week Project. My studio is now anywhere I can set up a light, or open a curtain to allow for the sun to shine and create an image of how I feel, or how I want to feel or how not to feel….it just doesn’t matter as long as I am creating…