If you’re lacking the motivation and inspiration to get out there and shoot, take comfort in the knowledge that artists of all persuasions find themselves in a creative funk now and then. A little reflection upon what you want from your photography might be the first step towards fixing the problem.
Have you ever had that experience where you head out with your camera all eager and ready to shoot some MoMA-worthy masterworks, only to find that every scene you frame in your viewfinder looks kind of "meh" and uninspiring?
This is a rhetorical question, of course. Every photographer has had this experience — in fact, anyone who regularly engages in a creative pursuit has had this experience.
The reasons often proposed for being creatively blocked are myriad — lack of inspiration, distraction, overthinking it, fear of being judged etc. etc. etc. And along with all of the well-meaning advice about the causes of this paralysis comes a wealth of proposed “fixes” from which you can choose your own poison to suit your particular creative malaise.
In this thoughtful video from Tatiana Hopper, she describes having this very experience on a trip to Italy — a trip that she had imagined was going to be rich with amazing photographic opportunities and memorable images. Once she was there, however, and raising the camera to her eye, she was surprised to find herself quite unmotivated and uninspired by what she was seeing in her viewfinder.
Instead of just ignoring this sentiment and pushing through it to keep shooting - per the kind of “get back on the horse” advice that is often prescribed for creative block — Tatiana chose to reflect upon how she came to find herself in this state of mind. In the process of asking herself a set of honest questions about how she was choosing the subjects to shoot and what it was that she hoped to get out of her photography, she was able to forge a new perspective and draw fresh inspiration.
It’s clear that there is no “one size fits all” solution to this kind of creative block, despite the wealth of well-meaning advice on the subject. What Tatiana’s experience shows us however, is that when it comes to our photography, as much as we might be working to perfect our craft, we are also always working on ourselves.
