Learn to be open and aware of your surroundings so inspiration for your next photo shoot can flow through you. Inspiration is the life of photography and other forms of storytelling. But life itself can often hinder inspiration. Life can be over-stimulating and too fast-paced for our senses to take a break and reveal their inklings and impulses. We have to learn how to fuel and strengthen our senses so they can lead us to inspiration.
Don’t Let Others Dictate What Is or Isn’t Art
Photography is a visual storytelling tool. It not only shares the stories of the past, but keeps them existing in our realities long after fleeting moments escape us. Photography has many categories, personal motivations, and reasons for being. We mustn’t let others dictate what is or isn’t art. The moment we let other opinions seep into our work, our process, and why we create our stories, we lose our individuality and deprive the world of our creative outlook. That being said, it is encouraging and can be beneficial to venture out and find other artists’ work. Even if these artists you observe aren’t photographers because e never know when inspiration will strike.
Be Open to Your Surroundings
It’s important to be open and aware of our surroundings so that we aren’t blind or imperceptive when inspiration reveals itself. We must be unified with our senses to allow our creativity to unfold and to utilize our visual storytelling tool. Some find their next photo shoot’s inspiration in abstract paintings hung in an art gallery, some in a nostalgic melody they haven’t heard since childhood, some in the smell of a steaming cup of coffee a stranger holds as she walks down the street. Let’s give way and follow to our senses so we can create art and tell our own stories.
Take A Break!
It’s also beneficial to set time in your busy day-to-day life for creating opportunities for your mind to be at rest. Living in our fast-paced world can cause our brains to suffer from over-stimulation. When we put aside time to just read a book or take a walk in the city or in a park, for example, we are allowing our senses to regroup from the haste of life to communicate our visceral storytelling desires.
Inspiration is Inspiration Whether Meaningful or Not
The inspiration behind all these photographs — although it may be hard to believe — came from finding old family photographs. The light leaks from the film cameras that took these old photographs in my family’s photo album inspired me to create portraits that fuse the past and the present. The light leaks in these photographs along with some of the faded editing portray a fusion of the photography styles in the past with the portrait photography styles of now. Your inspiration doesn’t need to be deep and meaningful. As long as you are telling a story with creativity and mindfulness, your photos are valid and worth every bit of your time and effort.
Tips by Juliet Rasekhy
Life itself can often hinder inspiration. Too often, in our world, we are robbed of time, creativity, and inspiration. I hope the importance of opening up and becoming more aware of your surroundings so as to let inspiration in came across. Inspiration is truly the life of photography and I hope you all find yours!