Inspiration or lack of it.

Inspiration, ideas, thoughts. Whether they are good or not, sometimes they just don’t happen. Every morning my first waking thoughts always turn to photography. What, where or who am I going to photograph today? Today nothing springs to mind. Having had my caffeine fix further inspiration is then searched for in the pile of photographic and surf magazines next to the toilet. Once again nothing springs to mind aside from the obvious longing for a landscape photography trip to the Isle of Skye. As a full time working photographer this is not a good start to the day. Sure there is the book to finish, the blog to start and the long list of personal projects to be tackled but all the same nothing is happening that makes me feel excited. It could be argued that the vast majority of people are not feeling excited and inspired as they endure the daily commute to work. So why should it matter how I feel? Well, art where I believe photography firmly lies relies on inspiration to provide fresh new ideas. That initial idea is nurtured and grown into a final body of work that is testament to the artist/photographers skills. Therefore no inspiration means no new work which it turn leads to a reduced income. Being a full time photographer this is a worrying scenario. The question being how long will this lack of inspiration last for? As it happens not long. Today inspiration came from a magazine featuring my eighty six year old mother-in-law holding a wooden belly board. An article and accompanying photographs in the same magazine featured a group of American Indians and got my creative juices flowing again. Excellent documentary photography, much of which taken with a narrow depth of field, some unusual angles and good composition inspired me to pick up my camera and stop moaning. The photographer in question, Matthew Williams, has obviously spent a great deal of time getting to know his subjects and their acceptance of him has allowed a privileged viewpoint into their lives.

http://www.matthewwilliamsphotography.com/#/essays/pine-ridge-reservation/pineridge01

Having been inspired it’s now time to stop whinging, get on with my own personal project, and realise once again how lucky I am to work as a professional photographer.