I’ve asked this question a lot in my life. You hear the words “creative” and “creative energy”, “art”, and “artist”, in the photography world quite often. But what do they really mean?
I’ve talked about making “original” work before. Some of you pushed back and said that nothing is original, it’s all been done in the art world. On one hand, I would agree. On the other, I disagree.
When I use the word, “original”, what I mean is that YOU are original, the maker or creator of the work. There’s only one of YOU! That, in and of itself, starts the process of making original work. The next part is authenticity. Being true to the importance you feel about the work. Nothing derivative (copied) and nothing trendy or popular can be original or creative.
Following your vision, whether people like it or not is very important. If people don’t understand or “get it” it doesn’t matter. Creating art is something a person is driven to do. It’s almost like you can’t help it - it’s compulsive, or compelling in a way. It comes from a place that has nothing to do with money, fame, social media, etc. It has to do with the need to express. To get what’s “inside” out and in the physical world. It’s manifesting deep feelings, emotions, questions, concerns, etc. Making the intangible, tangible.
If you feel this need, or you’re compelled to create, you know exactly what I mean. You’re somewhat preoccupied with ideas, thoughts, questions, etc. about the work you want to make. It can take the form of a technical issue or problem to serve the conceptual questions or vice versa. We address these as problems in making art because that’s what they are. It’s not stated in a pejorative way, or bad way, everything in life is a problem to be solved, and creating art is no exception.
I’ve tried to work through a lot of these questions over the years by making photographs. Each year, I get a little wiser and understand myself better. You don’t have to be middle-aged to get it, but the years of experience never hurts. I think the best piece of advice that I ever got in reference to being creative was, to be honest, and true to your vision. As I said before, don’t follow trends, don’t make what’s popular, make what’s yours!
Life asked Death, “Why do people love me and hate you?” Death replied, “Because you are a beautiful lie and I’m a painful truth”.
The Quaking Aspen & Granite Rock. Whole Plate toned Kallitype (K1) from a Paper Negative (Greenlaw).
