Be Inspired
Inspiration is everywhere, from the moment we wake up, until the moment we wake up again, because even dreams can inspire us, so reflect now and again, daydream or nightdream, inspiration is everywhere...
Your parents albums artwork, a photograph of a celebrity in a magazine, a scene from your favourite movie, or a theme from a Salvador Dali painting...
As a photographer, I have been inspired by so many people, great master photographers like Bob Carlos Clarke, Roger Ballen, even Charlie Waite has inspired my photographical output, with Bob Carlos Clarke being an endless love affair for me.
And it does not stop at photographers, sometimes a piece of music will inspire me, or an amazing surrealist painting by the aforementioned Dali. Even novels inspire me!
We are surrounded by media constantly, offering us untold images and films and music and art and literature and everything goes into our brains and effects us on a subconscious level, sometimes we barely know we are being influenced.
But what happens when we feel a lack of inspiration? We get stuck in a rut, and that rut becomes ever bigger and deeper until we find ourselves completely closed in and fenced off from external influences, hey, don't worry about it, seriously.It happens to me frequently, despite all the technical knowhow and gear, a photographer, or indeed any artist for that matter, can soon feel trapped by it all. That is the time you need to step away, step well away from everything and start from the beginning again, from scratch.
Take that time out to soak up some inspiration, visit the library in town for the afternoon and browse through any book of interest to you, no matter the subject matter, if it floats your boat, go with it! Or simply watch your favourite film with friends for a change.
And now and then, take a moment out once in a while and reflect on those childhood memories of images that stuck in your mind after so many years, we all have them don't we?
Maybe you could introduce some of these childhood memories into your work? Perhaps even emulate a poster you had on your wall as a child, , just draw on your memory bank for inspiration and work out how you could capture the essense of that memory into your final images.
Whatever you end up with, make it memorable!
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