Excellent read! I am glad you found your way out of your block/struggles with photography! It can be challenging to find new photos in familiar places, but if you do it is such a great feeling. Your photos are amazing as always!
It's amazing how experimenting with an art form or medium new to us can do to the one art form we feel at home with. And it goes way beyond graphic arts! Join an acting group and you'll become a better guitar player. Take drawing classes and you'll incorporate new things to your dancing. It's almost like rewiring new paths in your brain.
it's very much like rewiring your brain haha. And It's great. We all need a little shot from time to time to get back on track and mixing up your expression seems a good way to do this.
Ok, I agreed more with this when I could better focus on its contents. There is a sweet spot between interpreting things and feeling them (with our own ideas) and it's easy to swing too far to one or the other side. It felt a bit like you were speaking directly to me in this post, perhaps because so much of this resembles conversations we've had.
I think that being visually uninspired by Edmonton/the Prairies is symptomatic of something much bigger, although right now I am thinking about going to a spot in the city that I like, one I've been to countless times, and sitting there, studying it, to see how that feels. My problem is more that I don't connect with or enjoy this region of the world all that much. I'm just here out of personal circumstance, which I guess you could say for yourself too, but you don't have the level of disdain and apathy towards the Prairie like I do. People have environments that better suit them, and for some that's the Prairies, or cities like Edmonton, and that's great. It just isn't for me. And lots of people that don't vibe with this area power through it because they aren't so moved by place like I am. I get a lot of feelings about places, get lost in abstractions, and am very particular about the things I like. So not feeling like taking photos here for periods is only the tip of the iceberg.
I'm also thinking about that line between abstraction and object you've brought forth in the context of my own photography. There's certain things, without giving it any thought, that I'm aesthetically drawn towards and find fascinating. I don't need to think about why that is, I can just be there, mesmerized by something. And maybe as I stretch out into a scene more, ideas will pop in, without overwhelming, and I reach that balance. The problem is that the visual fodder of this region doesn't fascinate me. I find a lot of it ugly and yes that is abstraction getting in the way but even at a fundamental, subconscious level, without thinking about it, I will feel that, and become uninspired. Sometimes a photograph can elevate the banal and the hideous, but sometimes I just want to actually be inspired by something that strokes my aesthetic preferences. Sometimes I don't want to do that mental work.
I don't know if that makes it seem like I'm not getting it. Or I'm not sure if my point is being well-articulated. But I do get what you're saying. I find Winnipeg more visually stimulating because it ticks off the right aesthetic boxes. I still can grow bored of the same old, same old, but it's easier for me to return to the same old, same old there because, even if I've seen something a million times, it's still in a visual form that I gravitate towards. That can happen in Edmonton too, but less often.
Had to think about this a bit before replying. I won't lie, I think you're very tangled up in the intellectual aspects and the abstractions (and ideas about things rather than the actual things) and some of that maybe is with more focus on documentary you need those abstractions to have a framework around your work. You need the idea of winnipeg being different than edmonton to sort of give structure.
I think though, my point wasn't abstraction is bad, its critically important. It can just lead to getting stuck. Forget it is a fence, or a house, or a tree, or a street in edmonton, or banal, or in the architecture style you prefer. Look at the actual things in detail. the shapes. the colors. the patterns. the details of lines and cracks and shifts in tones. Nowhere is truly better than anywhere else. The magic of light and texture and pattern are everywhere. Just we have ideas about the things in a place or other, and preferences for things (which are just abstractions). And at the very heart of what I'm saying is when you're stuck in edmonton, hating it, the solution is to forget its edmonton. forget you know the street and realize the space you're in is a vibrant organic thing with constantly changing parts, light, textures, etc. Doing so can free you up mentally and transform a space you think you know.
When you name a thing you're no longer looking at the thing you're looking at the model of the thing you named. A fence is no longer a repeating pattern of whites against darks, its a fence, with all the history of our ideas and experiences tied up with it.
I think what I was trying to say is going to far in either direction is not helpful. It seems like from the words you used you're very literally shooting the ideas of things moreso than the things. Their intellectual and human terms. Which is valid and needed too. But when you get feeling bored, or turned off, maybe try to just look at the spot your in in more detail, letting go of some of the ideas you have and see if it doesn't fire something in you.
That makes sense, thanks. I unconsciously do this sometimes with Edmonton, and it winds up almost feeling like I've taken a trip here and I'd never been here before. Like earlier in the year when I started back in with my Fujis. I'm sure having a new focal length helped, although I wasn't really thinking about that much. I've also had it where I get a fresh perspective on a place, like Edmonton, and it allows me to see it without the depressiveness.
I agree that, objectively, no place is better than anywhere else. But we're human and we naturally have our preferences. And yeah, I probably get more into them in this particular way because of who I am and the way my mind works. I think about place and what that means a lot.
Right now, I'm probably in another uninspired slump with Edmonton. Unfortunately - and this happens often in late summer - as much as I'm uninspired, even more I'm burnt out. I took 12,000 photos last month and I need to chill for a bit. I'm reluctant to photograph right now primarily for different reasons, even if underneath that there's still a layer of boredom and melancholy. I think your trick for mentally snapping out of a creative slump, to see less abstraction, is good though, and I'll probably find it useful to try out in the coming months as things get darker, greyer, harsher.
Excellent read! I am glad you found your way out of your block/struggles with photography! It can be challenging to find new photos in familiar places, but if you do it is such a great feeling. Your photos are amazing as always!
Thanks susanne! I didn't touch on it much in the post, but i really fell in love again this summer with my prairie.
I have been in love with the prairies of the US and Canada since my first visit in 2011. I totally get it!
It's amazing how experimenting with an art form or medium new to us can do to the one art form we feel at home with. And it goes way beyond graphic arts! Join an acting group and you'll become a better guitar player. Take drawing classes and you'll incorporate new things to your dancing. It's almost like rewiring new paths in your brain.
it's very much like rewiring your brain haha. And It's great. We all need a little shot from time to time to get back on track and mixing up your expression seems a good way to do this.
Ok, I agreed more with this when I could better focus on its contents. There is a sweet spot between interpreting things and feeling them (with our own ideas) and it's easy to swing too far to one or the other side. It felt a bit like you were speaking directly to me in this post, perhaps because so much of this resembles conversations we've had.
I think that being visually uninspired by Edmonton/the Prairies is symptomatic of something much bigger, although right now I am thinking about going to a spot in the city that I like, one I've been to countless times, and sitting there, studying it, to see how that feels. My problem is more that I don't connect with or enjoy this region of the world all that much. I'm just here out of personal circumstance, which I guess you could say for yourself too, but you don't have the level of disdain and apathy towards the Prairie like I do. People have environments that better suit them, and for some that's the Prairies, or cities like Edmonton, and that's great. It just isn't for me. And lots of people that don't vibe with this area power through it because they aren't so moved by place like I am. I get a lot of feelings about places, get lost in abstractions, and am very particular about the things I like. So not feeling like taking photos here for periods is only the tip of the iceberg.
I'm also thinking about that line between abstraction and object you've brought forth in the context of my own photography. There's certain things, without giving it any thought, that I'm aesthetically drawn towards and find fascinating. I don't need to think about why that is, I can just be there, mesmerized by something. And maybe as I stretch out into a scene more, ideas will pop in, without overwhelming, and I reach that balance. The problem is that the visual fodder of this region doesn't fascinate me. I find a lot of it ugly and yes that is abstraction getting in the way but even at a fundamental, subconscious level, without thinking about it, I will feel that, and become uninspired. Sometimes a photograph can elevate the banal and the hideous, but sometimes I just want to actually be inspired by something that strokes my aesthetic preferences. Sometimes I don't want to do that mental work.
I don't know if that makes it seem like I'm not getting it. Or I'm not sure if my point is being well-articulated. But I do get what you're saying. I find Winnipeg more visually stimulating because it ticks off the right aesthetic boxes. I still can grow bored of the same old, same old, but it's easier for me to return to the same old, same old there because, even if I've seen something a million times, it's still in a visual form that I gravitate towards. That can happen in Edmonton too, but less often.
Had to think about this a bit before replying. I won't lie, I think you're very tangled up in the intellectual aspects and the abstractions (and ideas about things rather than the actual things) and some of that maybe is with more focus on documentary you need those abstractions to have a framework around your work. You need the idea of winnipeg being different than edmonton to sort of give structure.
I think though, my point wasn't abstraction is bad, its critically important. It can just lead to getting stuck. Forget it is a fence, or a house, or a tree, or a street in edmonton, or banal, or in the architecture style you prefer. Look at the actual things in detail. the shapes. the colors. the patterns. the details of lines and cracks and shifts in tones. Nowhere is truly better than anywhere else. The magic of light and texture and pattern are everywhere. Just we have ideas about the things in a place or other, and preferences for things (which are just abstractions). And at the very heart of what I'm saying is when you're stuck in edmonton, hating it, the solution is to forget its edmonton. forget you know the street and realize the space you're in is a vibrant organic thing with constantly changing parts, light, textures, etc. Doing so can free you up mentally and transform a space you think you know.
When you name a thing you're no longer looking at the thing you're looking at the model of the thing you named. A fence is no longer a repeating pattern of whites against darks, its a fence, with all the history of our ideas and experiences tied up with it.
I think what I was trying to say is going to far in either direction is not helpful. It seems like from the words you used you're very literally shooting the ideas of things moreso than the things. Their intellectual and human terms. Which is valid and needed too. But when you get feeling bored, or turned off, maybe try to just look at the spot your in in more detail, letting go of some of the ideas you have and see if it doesn't fire something in you.
That makes sense, thanks. I unconsciously do this sometimes with Edmonton, and it winds up almost feeling like I've taken a trip here and I'd never been here before. Like earlier in the year when I started back in with my Fujis. I'm sure having a new focal length helped, although I wasn't really thinking about that much. I've also had it where I get a fresh perspective on a place, like Edmonton, and it allows me to see it without the depressiveness.
I agree that, objectively, no place is better than anywhere else. But we're human and we naturally have our preferences. And yeah, I probably get more into them in this particular way because of who I am and the way my mind works. I think about place and what that means a lot.
Right now, I'm probably in another uninspired slump with Edmonton. Unfortunately - and this happens often in late summer - as much as I'm uninspired, even more I'm burnt out. I took 12,000 photos last month and I need to chill for a bit. I'm reluctant to photograph right now primarily for different reasons, even if underneath that there's still a layer of boredom and melancholy. I think your trick for mentally snapping out of a creative slump, to see less abstraction, is good though, and I'll probably find it useful to try out in the coming months as things get darker, greyer, harsher.
Fascinating read. I hadn’t thought about our approach to familiar places in that way before so thank you. I love the atmosphere of your photos too.
Thanks andrew, nor had I before I saw that quote. If it helps anyone think about things a bit different and get unstuck, I'm all for it.