I was listening to a podcast yesterday which featured an interview with a songwriter. My son is in the music business and much of what he said I knew would resonate with him, but I was surprised to realise that the content also resonated with me as a photographer. In a future blog I will talk about the parallels of music and photography in more detail, but for today I just want to focus on one aspect of creativity which was touched upon in the podcast, and that was the issue of creative block!
Oh yes, the dreaded creative block! Sometimes it visits us briefly but other times it can linger over us for months! I actually don’t know why I used an exclamation mark there because creative block is not funny! (Ah, another exclamation mark - I think it’s the equivalent of a nervous twitch!!)
I have being struggling with creative block for some months now and I am fighting it in every way I can think of. For instance, I have generally moved away from black backgrounds (had you noticed?!!), I have used different lenses, I have restricted myself to shallow depths of field, I have watched tutorial videos and I even treated myself to a ‘phone with an amazing camera. I just KNOW that I am meant to do something slightly different to what I am producing presently and yet I can’t quite touch it or see it. It is eluding me and that is so frustrating.
A visitor to Collioure capturing his own memory at the very spot where an artist once created his own work of art - hence the frame.
So, returning to the podcast I was listening to yesterday: a member of the audience, a song writer, struggling with writer’s block asked the accomplished guest how he tackled such a situation. He replied: “I work through it!” He said he gives himself the task to write a bad song because if his aim was to write an outstanding song he would invariably be disappointed! And when he writes a song, of whatever quality, he feels way, way better than if he hadn’t written anything. So, as photographers, we need to likewise keep shooting through the block when it hovers over us. Some days I start to ‘feel’ it and things go well. i try to identify why tI had a good session - and I can’t think why - oh that I did know! So I just keep moving forward creatively hoping it will all fall into place.
One thing I do know, is that I respond well to external influences: YouTube videos, books, documentaries, podcasts. I have been trying all of the above and still I feel like I am wearing a straight jacket! So this week, as we enjoy the most beautiful weather here with glorious quality of light and fewer tourists, I tried a change of scenery and took myself to the super pretty seaside town of Collioure, famous for its anchovies. I went out, with a few lenses - quite silly really because it is way better to go out with one lens only, and I had an enjoyable creative moment. I restricted myself to one hour only which served to focus my attention and heighten my awareness for all the details around me. Above all, I smelt the sea air which was therapy in itself.
Apart from the obvious benefits of the coastal ambiance, it was good to break away from my normal stance at a tripod, I shot at different focal fields to that of my macro work, I had changing light to adapt to, and I had moving subjects. All of which stimulated my photographic reflexes, which was of course the aim of the trip.
Now that I am back in my office, I will heed the advice from the podcast, and I will continue to take photographs every single day, placing no pressure on myself to take great shots. I will work through the stagnant moment and I will wait to see where I find myself creatively when I reach ‘the other side’.
If you yourself have worked through creative block successfully I would love to hear how you tackled it and how you came out at the other end. Just use the contact tab to be in touch.
Meantime I will share with you some of my photos taken in the hour I allotted to myself in the delightful town of Collioure ,way south in France, just minutes from the Spanish border. They were taken using a Fuji 35mm lens and a Lensbaby sweet 35, hence the softness at the edges of some of the images.
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