March 6, 2013
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Finding inspiration….
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“Wow, I’d love to do what you do!”“You have the perfect job!”
“I’d give anything to do what you do.”
“How simple is your job?”
These are typical statements that fly by me on a pretty regular basis. It seems like everyone wants to be or knows someone who is an aspiring photographer. When you are in the “business” of photography, “burn out” comes often. Not only do I have to deal with the business end of photography, but always have to think of new ways to create. What makes any artist great is that their work is constantly changing. Always exciting. That excitement that you see in any kind of artist has a long history of crash and burns. It’s just natural that when you do this 24/7, you tend to hit a pot hole in the road.
I recently met up with one of the students who took my photography class a few years ago. When I asked her about her progress regarding her desire to photograph the world, she put her head down. She explained that she just didn’t “feel” it anymore. Granted, I understand that she may have lost her mojo about taking photographs. But in reality, she just lost her inspiration.
Keeping the inspiration alive requires being fed. Kinda like a diet, if you start eating crappy food you will gain wait. If you want to stay motivated, you have to do things that will put you on the right road.
If you love photography, you have to make time for it. You just can’t carry around your camera and hope that see a good shot. The best photographs I ever made in my life were on purpose. I planned time, I sent up the shot by going at the right daylight hour and I worked all the angles to get the best light. For me, burnout is not from photography, it is from the “business” of photography. You would be amazed at the amount of hours that I put in to my business. Even though I have studio hours, long after most folks are watching American Idol, I am still editing. People have it in their minds that you should answer the phone at 9:15 at night or work on Thanksgiving because they are having a family gathering.
A few years ago I went down to Philadelphia to the Art Museum. Having photographed there many times, I was only inside once during a school trip with my daughter. There was a photography exhibit that I wanted to see and accomplished that within a half hour. I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around from room to room. Taking art history in college, I knew a little about High Renaissance period of painters like Michelangelo (1475-1564) and Leonardi Da Vinci (1452-1519) and many more. There were benches in the middle of the room and folks were just sitting there staring at famous art works worth millions. They just weren’t resting their feet, they were sitting there for quite some time. You could hear a pin drop in that room. I sat down and cast my eyes on an image made during that period. I remember my art history teacher talking about the use of color and light that these artists took particular attention to. I felt that even those these paintings were centuries old, it seemed fresh. Despite their daily hardships of life in general, these artists captured faces, bodies, landscapes using oils that more than likely used their entire income. They posed their subjects in light that was becoming to their body shape.
I left the museum that day with a sense of peace. Kinda weird I know. But when I returned to my studio the following week, I felt refreshed and ready to move forward with greater images.
In closing, finding inspiration is different for everyone. Just because you love photography doesn’t mean you need to shoot every day. You can draw inspiration from different things. The important thing is that you have to feed it. A plant with no water will die.
Questions? Feel free to email me at lerephoto@gmail.com. Or, follow the madness on my studio Facebook page at Donna Lere Photographer. If want instant gratification, you can follow me on TWITTER @donnalerephoto
www.lerephoto.com
Art is never finished, only abandoned.
Leonardo da Vinci
