I've got the time, where to go for inspiration?

[Dave Moeller]

Mike Troxell said, "(3) Work on detail. Forget the grand vista with the awe inspiring waterfall and the one in a lifetime cloud formations. Find a 100 square foot area (or whatever) and spend the day working in that one area.", and I couldn't agree more.

The last time I was blocked up (photographically, not digestively) I spent some time in my own driveway. My driveway is just long enough to hold my car, and just wide enough to open the doors without whacking the walls on either side. I found that this exercise helped me focus on the fundamentals of form, composition, and light rather than on any notions I had about the beauty of subjects. This was just the cure I needed at the time. After that, I looked back up at the world in general and started to see potential projects everywhere.

(My current work was inspired by this exercise. There area across the street from my house is wooded so now I'm working on the forested areas of western Pennsylvania, trying to capture the "feel" of this part of the world.)

I don't know if this would work for you but it sure worked wonders for me.

[Janko Belaj]

Don't know now why I promised to post that photo. I'm not satisfied with it as I was yesterday, but designers are still happy and will use it.
(this thumb is linked to directory on my server, choose large or small "continental" jpeg)



Now I think about being depressed... maybe is that just from rain outside?

[Bill King]

One of the most dangerous places for me photographically is when I concentrate on the finished product. I know that I constantly battle over whether my photographs have meaning. It's much easier for me at times when I have an assignment. Then my photographs have a strong reason for being. There is an underlying reason why they should exist and why they are important: namely, they complete a project or they satisfy someone else's requirements. If I have to focus on create images that express, say, a sense of isolation, then it's easier for me to make photographs, because I know what I'm trying to express. There is an underlying reason for the photographs. There is a concept that makes them important.

But, for me, it's a little bit dangerous...because when that project is complete there is a void. The reason for making the photographs is gone. My photographs feel empty. I worry far too much about what gives my photographs meaning.

When you were putting together your show, did you have a central focus for your photographs? Was there a sense of external motivation: wanting to have prints that you wanted people to see for the show? What made you feel a sense of focus or excitement about putting together photographs for the show? Do you do better when you photograph for others or photograph for yourself?

When I get too wrapped up in this quest for meaning in my photographs, I have a couple of tricks to get myself back on track again. I tend to be quite externally motivated, and so sometimes it's nice to work on a project for someone else. It doesn't have to be great art...just something to give me a reason to shoot pictures. When I was in grad school, I made the equivalent of a yearbook for my friends. It was a fun and not too deep project, and it got me back into realizing that all of my photographs didn't have to be "gallery quality". I could just have fun shooting and printing.

I do much better when I let my inner seven-year-old play with images and ideas, but it takes practice to let him roam about with a camera. When I shoot for a specific project, and I focus on the outcome of the photographs, I prejudge the meaningfulness of my photographs. It's a specific style of thought: I ask myself whether a particular image is worthy of the project. But then when the project is completed, I remain mired in the same style of thought, and I struggle to find meaning without an underlying reason for the photographs. However, if I can stop dwelling on the meaningfulness of my photographs for a while and let my inner seven-year-old play with the camera long enough, I eventually find themes and interests to pursue more heartily. And I think many of the suggestions within this thread are in that vein...ideas for recapturing a sense of wonder and curiosity. It's perhaps the equivalent of sketching, or doodling, or buying a set of tempura paints because they look fun to try. It's just playing with ideas without overly judging them and letting my sense of wonderment abound again.

Best of luck to you.

[Tim Curry]

May not be everyone's "cup o' tay" but I had the same thing earlier this spring (summer is here now, 105 today). I wanted to go out and see a few motorcycles for Arizona Bike Week. Took a 35mm and Efke 25 and drove up the road to Phoenix. Fun to watch people, bikes, races and just get away for a day. It worked to help free things up. Different format, subject matter I just liked to see, not great art at all. Mostly fun without worrying about a subject, theme or work. The LF meet in Monterey later also helped.

Where do you want to go this weekend? A day trip and a 35mm will work wonders. Just take what you want to take without any prior planning. Works for me.

[Eric Rose]

Take photos of your SO's toes.

[Bill_1856]

Kevin, your experience is quite similar to that of writers after finishing a book which may have taken years to write and endlessly rewrite and edit. You feel almost totally useless for a while, and some people even report that it's very much like enduring the loss of a loved one. Now is the time to catch up on those many little things which you put off while being too busy with the show. Just give it some time (very hard to make yourself do it) and things will eventually straighten themselves out.

[Hans Berkhout]

Take a hike. I tell my patients to get involved in volunteer work, help the underpriviliged (e.g the blind) and realise how lucky you are. Teach photography to kids in your neighborhood or in summer camp.

[William Blunt]

Brett Weston said "inspiration comes from working, you just haul your ass out and get to work".

[Kevin M Bourque]

Thanks for all the kind comments, everyone. The show was mostly landscapes and found objects (I thought about calling it “Everything but People”). It represented most of the good stuff I’ve done over the last two years.

Just this weekend I started doing some close-up abstracts….maybe that’ll get me going again.