Creativity - Does Inhaling Help?

We've had some pretty good discussions the last few days about "How

Sharp" and "What Kind of Music" we listen to. This might be a bit

more controversial. When my son was 15 he wanted a guitar. He was

soon better at it than I ever was. One day he said "Dad, I just

realized why the sixties and seventies produced so much great

creative new music!" I asked him what he thought the reason

was. "They were all smoking pot, doing other stuff too. They were all

STONED!" Being a good concerned parent I gave him the Official

Lecture on Why Drugs Are Bad before agreeing with him that yes, it no

doubt had a lot to do with it.

 

I knew a few photographers of note from my dad's generation, the guys

who grew up during the Great Depression and fought in WW-II. They

photographed the Korean "Conflict" and the Viet Nam War. That was a

generation where pot smoking, at best, was only common in the jazz

world. A bottle of Scotch, though, often sat next to the enlarger or

the stack of film holders in the studio. A flask was a commonly

carried accessory in camera bags. One famous PJ was known to get so

crocked while printing that he could barely stand, and on occasion

he'd pass out, but he turned out some fantastic prints.

 

Any thoughts, folks? Don't incriminate yourself if it makes you feel

uncomfortable, and "Yes I did inhale!" I'll even admit to snorting a

few lines. Looking back through my old contact sheets, which I've

been doing a lot of during the past week, I'm not sure that it had

any effect on my ability to shoot. I really don't see much change in

my shooting style over the last 4 decades. It may have opened my eyes

to some images I otherwise would have missed, perhaps not. The only

thing I know it did do was it allowed me to associate with(and

photograph!) "as one of the guys" everybody from rockers, motorcycle

gang members, to others out of the mainstream of society. Unless

you're able to "be there" you can't take the pix...LOL What do the

rest of you have to say?

Well, this is quite controversial indeed. I wouldn't expect a post like this one. What I have to say is that I think that drugs and photography do definitely not mix. I never tried it and never will. I do agree that maybe to a certain extent drugs reveal strong and extreme emotions which maybe could contribute to seeing things extemely positive or extremely negative. This doensﾴt mean that they generate more creativity. I think drugs in the art and music scene are just a common thing. Like nude people on a ﾴﾴnude beachﾴﾴ. Itﾴs just a standard thing to do and I know more artists and photographers who created great work without drugs than those who used it.

I tend to shoot very effectively under the influence of several pints of Guinness. Twice a year the community college where I volunteer as a photo lab assistant takes a one day bus trip to New York City. The school does this to allow the art students to visit and take notes for critique assignments and such. I use it as an excuse to photograph in NYC all day, then get half in the bag in the evening. I usually try to have a sufficient quantity of Guinness to insure a restful bus ride back to Baltimore. Invariably, between the last beer and getting on the bus I shoot several frames. These frames are very often some of the best of the whole day.

 

I had a similar experience at a folk music festival, but the beer was Red Hook. After four of those, my photography improved dramatically, and I was shooting Kodachrome 200, so I was still making skillful exposure decisions.

 

Me thinks when me drinks that my style is a bit more free-flowing and improvisational, more heavily reliant on instinct and less dependant on process.

 

Thank you, sir; may I have another?!

 

Michael J Hoffman

Perhaps drinking and smoking dope lowers inhibitions in some users, which would probably affect creativity. I smoked pot for three or four years during the seventies. I don't recall--surprise, surprise!--how it affected my creativity. In the end, being stoned increased inhibitions in me--not a good thing for creativity. These days, for whatever reason, I feel free to photograph whatever interests me--as free in this creative activity as in anything else I do. Of course, it is difficult to create anything in a vacuum; a close friend over the years and I exchange photographs, comment on one another's work, etc. I value this collaboration, which informs my creative work. Otherwise, I do not know how to "explain" it.

I no longer imbibe while shooting...drunken fingers which dropped a 35 Asph Summicron onto pavement a few years back cured me of that. But the darkroom....aaah, that's another matter. My method of printing for 20 years has been a spare 4 hours, 1 box of paper and a bottle of Jack Daniels. I swear to whomever you pray to that after 3 or 4 shots I start getting a lot more daring with my cropping, and they are often the images I choose to keep.

"What I have to say is that I think that drugs and photography do definitely not mix. I

never tried it and never will."<p>I'm not trying to be combative, but this sort of

remark strikes me as foolish. He's basically saying he has nothing to add to the

discusion Al is trying to stimulate,

because he doesn't know what he's talking about- he has no experience with

this.<p> I

understand the knee-jerk anti-drug reaction, and I know a large segment of the

population feels this way. I'm not going to advocate drug use, but this sort of

response begs to be pointed out as silly.

AL.........Do you still have your captain's licence?????????

Yes, I have the license. I've been drug free for a number of years, since shortly before getting the captains' license. I also discovered that I had epilepsy, probably since my teens, and that regular moderate pot smoking, actually a very effective anti-seizure drug, had masked the symptoms for over 40 years...LOL. Now I take a legal pill every night at bed time. It was cheaper to smoke pot and this doesn't have the pleasant "side effects".

Well..I must admit the only time I really inhale is below 1/15th of a second!

I drink only red wine, but lots. It doesn't increase my virtuosity at the piano or harpsichord, but it does increase my feelings. Ditto when I only "listen" to a few CDs in the night. Might do the same trick as re shooting (?) I dunno...

I've spent twelve years working in television and am now in my twelfth year in the music business, in that time I've worked with a huge number of creative people, many stoners, many drunks and others who were masters of self-control and I have to say that I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever. What is probably true is that what makes these people creative also makes them more interested in battering their internals. Whilst there is great fun to be had from picking up a guitar when completely hammered I'm not so sure the same is true of cameras . . .

Al,

 

It was actually after enjoying Mother Nature's finest that I remember first becoming interested in photography. Must have been 1966 or so.

 

A friend had a makeshift darkroom and it was kind of magical watching a print come up in the developer. Come to think of it, a lot of things seemed magical under those circumstances.

 

I don't think that I was nearly as creative back then as I thought I was. Looking at whatever remains of what I shot then doesn't seem the least bit impressive.

 

These days the most potent thing that I inhale is the New York City air and I think I'm a much better photographer than I was 40 years ago. Be that as it may, I don't regret what I did back then in the least.

 

Rich

--I'm not trying to be combative, but this sort of remark strikes me as foolish. He's basically saying he has nothing to add to the discusion Al is trying to stimulate, because he doesn't know what he's talking about- he has no experience with this.--

 

I said that I THINK they donﾴt mix. I didnﾴt say that I tried it and know from experience that they donﾴt mix. Whatﾴs so silly about that? Did you ever drink and drive? Do you have to kill somebody first before you know they donﾴt mix? To use your words: ﾓhe has no experience with thisﾓ. I even wonder what this post has to do with Leica photography?! This subject would be more appropriate for Dr. Phil IMO.....

I have smoked pot on many an occasion while photographing. i can say with conviction the image i saw while i was feeling good was a lot different than the image i reviewed afterwards when straight. although, on the other hand, that happens to me straight or stoned for the most part. but the creativity flows, just not to the extent it seems. this is by no means an admission of any wrong doing.

This is GREAT. I wasn't expecting so many responses so quickly. Let's keep it going! Remember, though, that what we're discussing is whether drug (and alchohol) use affects creativity in ourselves or other photographers that we know. Not whether it's a good thing for society, or how it affects your driving. No preaching, please! And yes, strictly speaking, this isn't really about "Leica photography". Getting stoned would most likely have the same effect on you if you were shooting with a Holga or a Canon DSLR.

Does anyone have a good hookup in Chicago?

"I even wonder what this post has to do with Leica photography?!"

 

Al said, "The only thing I know it did do was it allowed me to associate with(and photograph!) "as one of the guys" everybody from rockers, motorcycle gang members, to others out of the mainstream of society."

 

Another photographer suggest to me that if I wanted to photograph bikers I'd have to hop on back and take a ride with them.

 

I think Al is suggesting that in order to get "in" to a group, in order to photograph them, you need to "become your subject" to some extent. Since a great deal of Leica photography involves photographing people and people-groups, his question relates in that sense.

Al, I think this is a great thread. Personally I get tired of threads concerning nothing but how shiny my M7 is/how sharp my Summicron is/how great this snap is because it was taken with a $4000 camera.

Photography and the arts suffer enough from smokey drug related binge drinking artsy fartsy bullcrap. Don't brag about your problems!

 

Being healthy is better for everyone. That's the bottom line.

 

Cheers.

I guess in a way it's no different than wearing a conservatively cut suit wool, silk tie, and cap toe leather shoes when you're photographing the upper levels of the corporate world. "Camoflage"! here ever you are a bit of the lingo and the correct outfit (clothes, not cameras) really helps.

Amazing how testy the people standing on their moral high ground get...eh, Ben.

I went to college on a music scholarship. I inhaled a time or two. NOBODY sounds as cool as THEY THINK THEY SOUND while stoned. Any musician can verify that, even second hand. If you think Jazz gets tedious try listening to stoned Jazz improv... Its not the drugs that made the music its the musician! but having a great Axe helps a lot.

Actually, the moral high-ground has one very important thing in common with drugs - the less you know, the higher you go!

"What a long,strange trip it's been."

Al, I gave my very expensive cashmere/wool suits and handmade shoes to the charity store last week, sorry. I prefer to be comfortable.

 

Bob, don't talk to me about moral high ground, I am just someone who cares about health and people. You know why?

 

Dale, that is a huge line of Baloney. I went to music college and violinmaking college too. The effects of drink and drugs on people who were immensely talented is not as you might think. My best schoolfriend also went to the same music college as me, he was a very very talented pianist, drummer, jazzer, and smoker. He had a creative side like you never knew. He was also self destructive, more so than me. He killed himeslf.

 

Go figure, and don't try to lecture me about this subject, I've been there.

 

I prefer to use a Fuji g690bl

 

Cheers.<div></div>