Tonight, I realized a simple fact: Your emotion dictates your photography. As I said, simple fact. This is not something that is earth shattering – not something that has come out of the blue to surprise us all. The idea that a psychological state can affect creative endeavors is nothing new and/or spectacular. But it’s something, I admit, that we should not be aware of.
If I’m frustrated, I am going to photograph things that are awkward and uncomfortable. If I’m happy, I”m going to photograph things that are inspiring, or at least warming. What’s the point? The point is that if you are going to spend time in the field photographing what-have-you, you at least need to be aware of how your emotions affect you. This is not a bad thing – it certainly is not bad to have emotions – but it is certainly something you need to be fully aware of. You need to be aware of the fact that your darker photos might arise out of darker times (in your emotional state). You need to be fully aware that your happier and warmer photographs arise out of moments where you are confident and happy. Neither situation is a bad thing from an artistic view – you can certainly develop incredible photos in either state. But organizing those aspects of your work will be difficult unless you are able to recognize your inherent states.
Life throws us many things: Bad times, good times, times of inconsistency. The trick is that we, as artists, need to be aware of what can and cannot cause us to develop great works. That’s not to say that we don’t work in adverse times. Rather, that we recognize what times our best works should arise. In the end, our best works are derived from everywhere: great times, dark times, and so on. The trick is that we need to be aware of what times we function best, and we need ot cater our portfolios accordingly.
Live on and select accordingly.
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