Creativity is often tied to a photographer's success. Many approach it incorrectly and wonder why their photography fails. Here's how to approach creativity, freeing yourself from the mundane images everyone else shoots.
Creative photography is an ill-defined phrase. One could argue that all photography is creative. However, much is just a repetition of what came before. True creativity is building upon past works and mixing them to create something new.
Over the past century, artistic and, therefore, photographic styles have evolved dramatically. Creating unique photographic art involves a complex interplay of creativity, inspiration, and technical skill. Cultural shifts, technological advancements, and individual ingenuity have influenced these changes. Therefore, an understanding of photographic history and contemporary trends helps, too.
Turn That Awful Music Down!
I wonder how many parents have yelled that at their teenagers, who, in turn, will shout it at their children. Just as there has always been a battle between younger generations and their elders when it comes to enjoying new music, there is often a stuck-in-the-mud attitude of many older photographers who reject anything different that comes along. They stick to their conservative opinions, forgetting they once embraced the new. Creativity becomes a challenge when the gatekeepers of our art, who tend to be the older generation, fail to understand or appreciate something different from the norm.
Nevertheless, photography has undergone continuous and significant transformations over time, contributing to and being influenced by evolving artistic movements. It required brave individuals who shunned the ordinary and explored different approaches to move it forward.
This leaves photographers with a choice: Do they continue to do what they have always done and produce images this year that are much the same as five years ago, or do they choose to move on and discover something new?
Choosing What You Want To Do
There is nothing wrong with either approach. For the jobbing professional photographer, producing an image that puts food on the table and pays the rent is essential. That means making a photo that fits clients' expectations. For most, creating crowd-pleasing images that people want to buy is the only viable approach. Just as the crowd watches lowbrow TV, the masses mostly want easy-to-view pictures that are not too challenging. Meanwhile, a few professionals aim their photos at a different audience. For them, experimentation allows the production of more intellectually and emotionally stimulating images.
Of course, there are some exceptions. For example, product and fashion photographers must keep up with or even lead current trends. On the other hand, wedding photographers produce images in bulk but have some freedom to play more creatively with a few of their shots, making something different.
Amateur photographers are freer to choose. They can either go with the flow and take images that emulate others' work or explore a lesser-trodden path, finding a new perspective and challenging existing norms.
Nevertheless, whether professional or amateur, the photographer must get enjoyment from their work and pursue the route that inspires them most.
Understanding Creativity
Creativity is the ability to generate novel ideas. In the context of all art, it involves combining imagination with originality. By that, I mean taking what has come before and blending or molding it into something new or original.
Many creative thoughts have come from the subconscious and surface when daydreaming. Sometimes an idea might spring into your head when you are busy doing a mundane task. Another approach is to tackle creativity methodically.
Inspiration
This is drawing from personal experiences, other artists' works, nature, and a myriad of other sources to find a way forward.
Divergent Thinking
Divergent thinking doesn’t mean just going out with your camera and snapping away. It requires thinking about what you are trying to achieve and working toward that goal. This involves divergent thinking, i.e., generating and exploring multiple ideas.
Convergent Thinking
Once you have come up with a myriad of thoughts, either through deliberate divergent thinking or just having too many thoughts pop into your head, you can narrow down your ideas to find the most effective way forward.
Flow
Have you ever been so absorbed in your work that time passes without you noticing? This is flow. It’s achieving a state of immersion where ideas and execution come naturally.
What Makes a Creative Photograph
Several factors contribute to the uniqueness of a creative photograph:
Originality
This means creating something you have never seen before or presenting a familiar subject innovatively. This is probably the hardest thing to do considering over 1.7 trillion photos were taken last year alone. That averages about 4.7 billion photos per day or 57,000 per second. There's a good chance someone has done it before, but as long as it is new to you, that's all that matters.
Personal Expression
This is about infusing personal experiences, emotions, and viewpoints into the work. However, although you might achieve that, it doesn’t necessarily follow that everyone in the audience will appreciate it. Don’t let that concern you. Should someone say that they are uninspired by your work, it says more about their intellectual limitations than your photographic skills.
Technical Skill
Mastery of your camera and developing techniques, enable you to communicate your vision effectively.
Cultural Relevance
Responding to contemporary social, political, or cultural trends and issues makes your photos relevant.
Innovation
When you push the boundaries of what is possible in terms of technique or concept, you are more likely to produce something less common.
How to Be Creative
Being Brave
As mentioned above, experimenting with unconventional methods or controversial subjects is a way to be creative, and this requires a degree of bravery by the photographer and resilience against those who try to put you down. Sadly, there is a concentration of people on the internet who will fire derision at you, especially if you become successful. If you get a few of these, it's a sure sign that you are doing something right.
Building a Positive Community
Most people are supportive. Connecting with other like-minded photographers to share ideas can help you push your ideas forward and gain acceptance. Invariably, the most creative people are also supportive of others. You will have noticed that photographers who grumble and grouse, trying to hold others back, are usually not very creative. Meanwhile, those who are most successful (using a measure of success you like) are also kind and supportive of others.
That has always been the case in art. For example, Pablo Picasso, although sometimes tempestuous and intense, could also be charming and charismatic. Consequently, he attracted and supported a wide circle of other artists that he inspired and no doubt found inspiration from. Similarly, all the great photographers through the ages have been part of a supportive community of others.
Embracing the Unusual
Although leveraging digital platforms to showcase your work and reach a broader audience is important, breaking free from that and finding unconventional approaches to sharing your work with a more targeted audience is an effective way to get your work to those who matter. Furthermore, using less commonly used equipment and software can lead you in directions others don't follow.
Keeping Yourself Informed
Keeping up with current trends and movements while maintaining your unique voice is essential for any artist. Taking time to visit galleries and learning about historical and contemporary photography are sure ways of informing and inspiring your creativity.
Starting Photographic Trends
As with all art, trends in photography often begin with a few pioneering photographers introducing new or unusual creative techniques, themes, or perspectives. They challenge the status quo by defying conventional approaches.
Whether or not you start a trend, if you do something different, you will influence others to move in a particular direction. Therefore, you will become part of a movement.
Conclusion
The photos in this article are a few from a series of investigations I made after dipping into a book on photographic history. Applying and adapting the timeline presets in DxO PhotoLab that emulate the look of films from the past, I wanted to discover how Niépce and Daguerre's photography from nearly 200 years ago would sit with the world around me today. I also wanted to explore how the limitations of their film partnered with shots that required advanced camera technology would work. Some came out better than others, but it was an interesting experiment and is leading me to explore other areas.
The interplay of creativity, personal expression, and cultural context plays a vital role in photography. Moreover, understanding the evolution of photographic styles from their beginnings to where it stands today provides valuable insights into how photographers drew from the past to innovate and start new trends.
By being brave, building positive communities, leveraging technology, and staying informed, you can continue to push the boundaries of what is possible.
Happy New Year!
Ivor Rackham wrote:
"This leaves photographers with a choice: Do they continue to do what they have always done and produce images this year that are much the same as five years ago, or do they choose to move on and discover something new?"
We need not choose just one, or the other. This is not a binary decision. We can, and probably, should do both.
It bothers me that when some people start doing something new, they stop doing something old. In every one of our lives, there is enough time and enough energy to keep doing all of the old things and also start doing new things. We don't need to stop doing something in order to "make room for" something else. This is misguided thinking.
Moving forward, I will continue to do all of the types of wildlife photography that I have been doing for years and years, and I will also pursue new types of wildlife photography. Little children get bored and want to quit and start something new. Grown men and women know how to discipline themselves to stick to something and stay the course.
Hi Tom, I get your point. Some time ago, I wrote an article about Professor David W. Galenson's work on creativity. He found that there were two types of creative approaches: that of the artist who sticks with a particular approach and those who regularly evolve and adapt, leaving behind what came before. The most obvious examples of this are in music where you have those who do what they have always done and those whose styles change over time.
I think either approach is valid, and we must agree or disagree with the thinking that moving on is misguided. It's not your approach, which is fine, but if it suits others, then that's okay too.
There are plenty of artists who slowly evolved while others changed dramatically and innovated throughout their lives. Galenson's example of the former was Cezanne. A latter example was Picasso who rejected the idea of his art being an evolution.
In music, The Beatles and Paul Simon made dramatic leaps throughout their careers, while many bands evolved more slowly, e.g. Oasis. Mozart's music changed a lot over his short lifetime and Tchaikovsky's less abruptly.
When it comes to photography, I think Don McCullin has made some huge sudden transitions, whereas I would argue that David Baileys' was an evolution, although I think he started experimenting more recently.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Ivor,
I remember that previous article that you wrote. And I remember thinking the same thing then that I think now, "why can't we do both?"
You mention musicians who's style evolves, and that touches a nerve with me. I am all for musicians expanding their style and delving into different genres. But over the years I have had a great degree of frustration with musicians who abandon their first style when they explore new styles. I like that they are doing new music that is quite different from what they started out doing, but it frustrates me that they don't continue to do their old style in addition to the new things they are exploring. As I said in my previous comment, in our lives there is enough time and energy and motivation to keep doing the old things AND to delve into new things. They are not mutually exclusive. We should never feel as though doing one means that we can not do the other.
A couple examples come to mind - Heart, and Taylor Swift. I loved the classic rock music that Heart did in the 1970s. In the 1980s they chased the money and changed their style completely to fit the new pop sound that was popular. That's great, but they should have kept writing and recording more songs in the old classic rock style that they started out with, instead of abandoning that style of music when they started doing pop. They should have added pop music to their repertoire, instead of leaving classic rock behind and doing pop instead. Damn them for that!
And I loved Taylor Swift's early music, which was primarily country in style. I mean it was country that was a little different than the other country music of that period, in that it incorporated a pulsing beat into the twangs and lyrics that we typically associate with country music. But then she did a total 180 and started doing pop that sounded very modern and almost a little new wave. Sadly, when she made this dramatic and extreme shift, she did the same thing that Heart had done - abandoned her original style. She should have kept doing country music in the unique style that she had done it previously, and added the new wave pop music to that instead of just turning one style completely off and turning the other completely on.
Why the hell do people stop doing the old thing when they get excited about something new? What is wrong with people? Do both, dammit.
You wrote, "(Taylor Swift) should have kept doing country music in the unique style that she had done it previously..." I don't think you can make that blanket statement. It all depends on what her goal is. If her goal was to have as many people as possible hear her art, or hear her message through her lyrics, then she made the right choice. She just finished what is probably the most successful tour in music history. It's hard to see that as being the result of something she should not have done. And you never know, she might one day release an album in her old style of music that will be heard by 10x the number of people that would have heard it, had she not transitioned to pop.
You're right - I am not judging her according to her goals, I am judging her according to what I think her goals should be, according to what would give me the greatest enjoyment.
This is an excellent article. In an alternative conclusion, the actions mentioned above contribute to developing a personal, recognizable, and unique style that is sought after on the market, ensuring the photographer’s further growth.
Thank you, Alvin. Yes, a unique, personal style is sought after, especially by collectors. However, in the professional world, that style must also be appealing, which relies on the subjectivity of the buyers. Therefore, in the wider market, having a unique style is harder to achieve because most people are more comfortable with the familiar.
I agree. That’s why it is so important to understand who your customers are and to carefully select the best ones for your photography