Lately I have been figuring out and experiencing different ways to develop and build your creative ability. Much like the economy (hate to use this as an example), you have to build it, maintain it, and keep it growing.
My last blog post was about what to do if your level of creativity is in it's recession, or even headed towards depression and to turn it around; to bring your level of creativity from it's trough back up towards it's peak. Everything mentioned both on my post, and on Jarvis's post is meant to get the wheel spinning again and to train the mind to accept a different way of thinking.
Another way to get it going again is to try to answer problems that literally have no answer.
I was watching a comedian, and he said this:
"If you had everything in the world, where would you put it?"
I tried to answer this, and got into some pretty creative stuff. Would you leave it where it is? Would you organize? Would you get rid of all the trash, send it into orbit? Recycle it? Distribute it to the people who actually need it? Burn it? So many answers!
You can get very creative, and very deep into this. Think everything!
Get that wheel spinning again and tell me what you would do. Doing this will help you think differently and bring out the creativity that you are capable of.
Lets hear it!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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5 comments:
another way to look at it--there is an answer. see, this is a futile exercise. everything you would need, is already within you. the exercise would be to figure out what you REALLY need, which is the hard part. you need food, shelter, security etc. but a truly enlightened person would be without the need of possessions, so asking if you "had everything, where would you put it?"--well, my lazy ass zen answer would be you don't need it in the first place.
on a sidenote--I thought of posting before, about getting out of Randolph and getting started, and then stopped because I realized my advice is from a middle aged perspective and anything I could tell you would be maybe useless at this point in time.
I got out of Randolph 20+ yrs ago and have worked 100% as a photographer since then, but my experience with Randolph interns has been they expect something "more". The program in the 70s and 80s prepared grads to work their way up, but those ways are gone now, for better or worse, due to digital imaging and now the economy.
I only post this, because I read your stuff & you seem like a thoughtful soul. I have been there, been burned out but still working. These tips about energizing creativity? forget them. look inward--put the camera down and look at yourself. this is very hard to do, but once you start, you realize it's always been within you. our world--it pushes us as photographers to want the next camera, the next lens, the new style etc--but it's all b.s. it's about selling a manufactured concept of what is "in". which is what's gotten us into this economic mess to begin with. I'm sorry to be so cynical, but it's true. I was born too late and had to work out my later years in digital, when I lived & breathed film. YOU-are moving into the next realm. what it is? I dunno.
so--all the objects in the world? who cares? you have all you need.
Thanks for giving in and posting this time! Haha. I/we would like to hear more from you!
The question cold be taken in many different ways, not even literal. You seemed to have based it around what is needed in ones life. In that, I would reply with this: All you NEED is food and water, anything els are luxuries. ANYTHING.
I would answer the question, instead of need or want, more on the lines of giving or receiving and doing what's right or wrong; but of course, who's to say? Some would answer religiously, some would answer politically.
This exercise is not simply to energize creativity, but also exercise the mind. To give people something to think outside the box with. Could also learn a lot about a person by their answer.
Most people who answered this, sent a message through Email and Facebook messages. I got some one sentence answers like "I would leave it where it lies" and also some pretty amazing drawn out answers that definitely took much thought. These are the people who will benefit from this; so it all depends on how you approach it.
As far as the people who are always purchasing what's "in", your right, it is all B.S. But also, technology is consistent in the way that you must keep up.
Again, thanks for posting. I hope more people start and help make my blog more active.
okay-2 points. technology-you will never keep up. yes, you have to try to stay current, but that doesn't mean chasing every development or fad. I've been shooting digital since 1995 (started shooting pro with film in the mid 80s), and I kept up, but was always a year or two behind. every new camera that came out, was better than the last, but then again--the last and even the first got the job done. my personal work is rooted in old film cameras, and the very simplest forms, are often the most rewarding to use--so you tell me, is it really the gear that defines us?
second--I would suggest an exercise in being "mindful". pay attention to the world around you, instead of thinking or trying a new route to work etc. I walk to the studio I work at--I encounter folks on the street, listening to ipods, texting, talking on cellphones, etc. all these distractions from the real world. The world right in front of us. we think it's stale or routine--so far from that. this is what I mean by it's within you. it's right in front of you, if you can disconnect from the distractions.
just some thoughts from a middle aged photographer.
Point 1 - I totally agree with you. Technology is far from what defines us. And your right, you will never keep up with it all. But, as far as digital goes though, as the cameras continue to increase in file size, you will eventually have to buy new computer to handle it. And do you have to buy one of these new cameras? well no. but as technology grows around dslr's you will want one. For the record, if there was a cheaper and more local place to process film I would probably shoot a lot more film. Maybe you know of one?
Point 2 - I also agree, and think this would be a good exercise. So little people know whats going on around them, it seems. by observing, this is another was of getting out of the same ol' same ol' mind set.
Austin--this probably goes counter to what they taught you at RCC, but here goes: in the past ten years or so, resolution of sensors has increased, while the opposite has happened in terms of ouput.
It used to be you needed files in the range of 300-400 dpi at the long dimension of the output size, for a variety of materials. It was the same for offset printing also, 300 dpi was the norm for higher end, with lower res for lower quality papers & presses.
Now, though, hybrid output has been overtaken with inkjets which are in the lower dpi output range. there are Frontier machines, at 300 dpi, but no bigger than 14 inches, so the files aren't that big really. display graphics are done on scotchprint, which can go as low as 150, depending on final output & viewing distance. On top of all this,the whole print media world seems to be moving online, including catalog work. The end product there is screen resolution. 72-100 dpi.
maybe the strides forward will come in sensor quality, but resolution is about at the point of diminishing returns. You don't need a 20-40+ mp camera to shoot an online catalog. that's just overkill. even 12 mp is overkill.
you need high res scan backs for reprographics. but they're diffraction limited to like f16, and you shoot basically flat art. When you try to use them on 3-d type objects, you might actually have to move off the subject to get the depth of field needed, because you can't stop down to f45 to pull the focus, without degrading the image quality. So you shoot looser, and then crop, thereby making it a lower res image in the end. the single shot capture backs are no better, and full of compromises. in the end, we could have just stuck with sheet film in the first place, and been done with it.
btw--I do my own darkroom work, but could name a few labs if you really need to find a place.
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