photographers block

[mo_kenny]

Hi Everyone,

What is the best approach to conquer "photographers block" ?

I just notice that for some months now,after a successful local

exhibition, I just seem to have a mental block artistically speaking.

Kindly share your experiences.

Thanks

 

Mo Kenny

[bruce watson]

Make photographs. Don't feel like it? Uninspired? Do it anyway. If they aren't good, throw them away and make some more.

[peter_dendrinos1]

I have found that a good long drive, say 1000 miles maybe 2000 with out a camera does wonders for such a block.

 

If you are in the states, drive through the western states, or up into Canada.

 

Pete

[jackflesher]

One lens, one type of film, take an entire and go out and make images.

[robert_hurd]

I think this is a wonderful question...and I'd be interested in folks' replies as they pertain to portrait or fine art work, as well as landscapes.

 

Thanks!

 

Robt.

[capocheny]

Mo,

 

Firstly, go to a great bookstore and look at some interesting photo books... glean

some inspiration from what others have shot.

 

Secondly, do something entirely different from a photographic standpoint. When I was

shooting with a 35mm I occassionally got 'photographer's block" in terms of what to

shoot. I picked up a Winogrand book (Figments from the Real World) and started to

do a lot more street shooting... it's entirely different from landscape photography.

 

Thirdly, change films and look at the world differently. They say that shooting with

B&W film forces you to change the way you see as compared to shooting with color. It

might help to simply view the world differently with a new film.

 

Lastly, go for a long walk without your camera... simply observe and "feel" the things

you observe from a photographic point of view. Observe what you would like to shoot

if only you had your camera with you. Do this every other day and try to imagine

shooting something different each time. Walk the same route for a week or two.

 

Good luck on getting over your block.

 

Cheers

[eric rose]

Load up a 35mm camera with a 36 exp roll. Walk out to the street, pick a direction of travel. Walk 40 paces. Stop and take the best picture you can of whatever is on your left. Walk a further 40 paces and now take a picture on your right. Walk 40 paces again and now take a photo 180 degrees from your direction of travel. Continue on your chosen route and after a further 40 paces take a photo pointing straight ahead. Repeat until roll is finished.

 

Develop film, make a contact sheet (unless you are shooting chromes) and see how you did. I am sure by the end of the roll you will have noticed your are getting a lot more creative.

 

The key is you can't cheat, you must make a picture right where you stand, or at least within 3 or 4 feet of that point.

 

Good luck.

[davidroossien]

For me, inspiration comes from things outside of photography. Find something that especially interests you--a place, object, a technique etc. Consider what it means to you or what you find especially interesting about that subject.

 

Keep going back to this subject over and over and/or consider this subject under different lighting conditions. Try to make photos that show this place/object in the way that interests you. In whatever you do, be passionate about it. Also, be persistent!

[paul_e._cassidy]

I like to do one of two things for inspiration, I have a reasonably good set of hard bound photography books dedicated to b&w photography, and or a "field trip" to the fine art museum to reflect on "stuff"

 

Then, I grab my tripod, a field camera with one or two lenses, film holders, b&w filters and a light meter. When I have shot what film I have then at least I have some negatives to go process. By reviewing my mistakes, ideas begin to flow. . . good luck and take a hike!(With your camera) <GRIN>Paul

[conrad_poulin]

I get my insperation from other peoples work . I read, go to art

shows and try to get myself in the mindset I need to to be able to

think about artistic goals. Someday I will learn how to post

images so I can show how I look at life, but for now , thats not

possible, but eventialy it will be.My favorate way to inspire myself,

is to take off from the house with a 30 year old Hasselblad or a

50 year old Rollie, or a 25 yeaRB 67 or even my old Canon

F1,and best of all my favorate CDs, and enjoy the ride , If I get the

goods great! if not I still have a good time. When I come home

Knowing I got the good shot ,thats great, when I come home with

no shot, I still had a good time and listend to good music.

Inspiration is a tough thing and its hard to hang you hat on

somthing you shot 30 years ago. You had an exibition you are

doing fine ! Enjoy that for a while.

[conrad_poulin]

And what Jack Said.

[gonzalo_echeverria]

hi Mo,

 

what was the subject of your last exhibition?

 

what could be the subject of your next exhibition?

 

gonzalo

[Troll]

The period of let down after finishing a show is natural (you've worked your arse off getting it ready and mounted) as you've been emotionally supercharged during that period. It's very similar to the feeling of loss after completing the tenth rewrite of a book and sending it to the publisher. It's almost the feeling of having a friend or family member die. This too will pass.

[leica ron]

A 36 exp roll of TriX or BW400CN in a rangefinder ...

 

After a two month LF block I traded a surplus MF camera kit for a Leica M6 with a 35mm and 50mm primes, I've fallen in love with photography all over again ....

[Sandeha Lynch]

Success can do that to you if you don't give it the right kind of celebration/send off to get it totally out of your system. I suspect that you should have forgotten all about the exhibition by now, but it's malingering there in your subconscious :) Eitherway, going out without the camera will show you what you've been missing.

[jgreg]

I have this same problem sometimes and here's what I do to ease it. I'll just decide on a theme and head out to shoot it. Say, "doors" for example. I'll shoot all day with that theme in mind, but allow my eyes to interpret it however it presents itself to me. It could be a set of french doors on a restaurant with a young couple dining behind it, or a toddler trying to open a heavy glass door(as they often do) OR it could be an architectural type of photo, or a door with old chipping, sandblasted paint that I would shoot as abstract. The "theme" idea lets me look for interesting shots with a common element and narrows things down for me a little. Hope this helps some.

[mo_kenny]

Thank you all for your insight. I have decided to lay off LF for a while and load up my contax G2 with Agfa scala film and immerse myself in a project.

 

Mo Kenny

[gary_mccutcheon]

Many artists experience exactly what you describe and all the answers I've read here are good and valid. Two books, if you can find them, by Roger von Oech, "A Kick in the Seat of the Pants" and "A Whack on the Side of the Head" are easy and fun to read and get inside us all.

 

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action." Frank Tibolt, from Lenswork Quotes For Photographers.

 

Years ago I was at a loss for what to do for my masters project in graduate school. I took a hint from the photojournalists who would turn on their motor drives and throw their cameras in the air during riots in the 60's. I didn't have a motor drive for my Nikon so I set the self timer and began throughing it into the air. Didn't drop it once. I got some really interesting failures that led to a Masters thesis, an Art Museum show and a life long project. I haven't

thrown my 4x5 into the air yet, but who knows. Do the don'ts and soar.

 

Gary

[scott_walton2]

Take whatever format you like and limit yourself, as stated above... 1 lens. Look down... hands and knees down! Go to a place you have shot many times and do it over again... from a different angle, different film. Get away from the "eye level" syndrome.

[benjamin_lineberry]

I have a great solution for photographers block.

It's a little piece of crap called a holga. It leaks light, is soft at the edges, and the lens doesn't quite cover the film.

After shooting and contacting a few rolls, you'll feel inspired again. I'm not kidding. Shoot anything. Your kids, pets, stuff around your house...doesn't matter. The beauty is in the simplicity. What it allows is for you to focus on image-making, and not the technicals of the craft. You'll find it liberating and inspiring.

 

b.

[j_c24]

?phtogoraphers block? is a myth, a ghost, solving this issue has very little to do with most of the suggestions given so far. The root of the problem is a failure to see, being too subject focused, by not challenging yourself with new experiences both photographically and as a person, the later being most important to vision and growth as a photographer. Truly fine photographs do not come by the happenstance of just taking pictures.

[paul_e._cassidy]

Wow, JC if it is a "myth" then there sure is a lot of us lost in the mist! <GRIN>

 

I just wanted to add that weather you pickup a Diana, a Holga, my old Nikon F, a digital camera or a shoe box with a pin hole!!! The idea seems to be change you perspective to see the mundane in an interesting mix of highlights and shadows. . . After all you are only capturing a moment in time to be review in the future, Good Luck to All, Paul

[deans]

What kind of photography do you do? I am a landscape photographer. I often have to remind myself why I am out in the field. I am not there to take a photograph but to enjoy just being outside. I love the hike or the drive or the bike ride or the canoe trip or whatever. If I run across something that would make a great photograph then I will take the time to get the image. I love to photograph mountains. Backpacking with 4x5 gear is a real challenge, one which I enjoy just as much as taking the picture. Drop all the expectations, all the preconceptions and just have fun.