Creativity

My last entry was prophetic. After reaching too far and extending my hobby too much I got lost. Life happened and I no longer recognize myself in the photos I take. The long hours spent digging into workflows, minute sharpening details and cropping are not there anymore and the equipment is now used as way too expensive point-and-shoot gear.

And I am much happier.

Photography was an open field to try out my creativity, combining my interest in technology, life and management. I have moved on and photography was an important step on the way. I look back at ~22 000 photos spread over multiple years and it feels... nice. Curiosity, drive and application of the various skills I built led up to them.

What intrigues me now is genuine creativity in the areas that matter most to me. Where the challenge echoes deep and the first fight to simply create a calm space for creativity. Emotions fly everywhere. I find it takes a new approach to planning, to vulnerability and pure damn focus to move the world a step. Daring to stop, to accept and to make something new happen. In photography as well as in life.

Storytelling

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

Winter projects - steel wool photography

I need to try this out. The winter is dark.

Slow photography

Just stumbled on an old article from Slate discussing the concept of "slow photography". It rhymes really well with what I want to try this year. I have used photography to keep a record of everything that happens and it is taking some of the fun out of the exercise. It is time to slow down.

"For most people, including me, photography is most often about documentation or record-keeping. It is about taking a photograph as an effort to grab a moment as it rushes by, to stage a tiny revolt against the tyranny of time. That's why traditionally we photograph at moments you might think of as scarce. Few people photograph their daily commute, but most of us only go to high-school prom once—or maybe twice. A baby soon becomes a child, but humans look vaguely middle-aged for decades."

(...)

"No, the real victim of fast photography is not the quality of the photos themselves. The victim is us. We lose something else: the experiential side, the joy of photography as an activity. And trying to fight this loss, to treat photography as an experience, not a means to an end, is the very definition of slow photography.

Defined more carefully, slow photography is the effort to flip the usual relationship between process and results. Usually, you use a camera because you want the results (the photos). In slow photography, the basic idea is that photos themselves—the results—are secondary. The goal is the experience of studying some object carefully and exercising creative choice. That's it.

He further references an even older essay written by Fred Conrad that includes some examples:

New year, new camera

Got a new camera and inspiration, will from now on be more frequent in posting here. Working on a west coast portfolio for fun.

Imitation

Nature and people - todays crop of favourites. My next project is to imitate the style of some of these shots and explore new editing possibilities. Will be fun! Further, I recently decided to begin building a portfolio. Up until now I have mainly done photobooks of events and it is now time to explore what would happen if I only got to choose my top five or ten photos to show. Challenging to say the least.

Blütezeit by Julia Maier Gone with the wind by Maja Topčagić Off the shelf by Nic B. to build a home by Vincent Bourilhon Sunset Conversation by Mark Gee

Nanning BBQ by Adam Robert Young Attitude by Samrat Mukhopadhyay Ritmo de soleco by Aleksei Skalin Lightscanner by Ildiko Neer Sunk by Manuel Lancha

three by Daniel Camacho

Street photography

Recently got a new iPhone 4S and most of my shots are now made with Instagram or similar apps. The mobility is really nice but you lose the connection to the workflow and it just feels... very different.

Anyway, went out with the real camera today and watched some of the 1st of May protesters (Syndikalisterna). Got a bit interesting but quickly calmed down again. Will try to edit these further!