What’s a sure fire way to get out of a creativity rut? Put your play pants on. Begin a project. In my case, a photography project — it has worked wonders for recharging my creativity. Writers, crafters, quilters, artists of all media, or any creative endeavour can embark upon their own projects as well.
“Creativity is inventing,
experimenting,
growing,
taking risks,
breaking rules,
making mistakes,
and having fun.” ~Mary Lou Cook
I appreciate the photography of fellow Canadian Kyle McDougall and find him to be such an open and straight forward person as well so I’ve watched a few of his YouTube videos. Although I am already in the midst of my photography project, I thought he gave some excellent advice recently about beginning a photography project and will share his main points below, as well as this link to his video.
- Explore and stay curious. Just get out, and getting out is a great thing to do especially during the pandemic. Get outdoors.
2. Create for yourself. Don’t base your project on your ‘audience’ or your audience’s reaction to it. Remember how you felt when you first took the individual images.
3. Direction. Come up with a loose name or theme for your project to help guide you or to keep you focused.
4. Pick a place, or type of place for your project. It doesn’t have to be one place but, for example, could be the desert; seaside towns; museums; city parks — you get the idea.
5. Pick a person / people / interesting subject for basing your project upon.
6. Pick your project based upon a belief or opinion you have.
Kyle’s approach to a project is a useful way to develop a plan and to give ourselves a little kick in the behind — in a very nice way of course. So far, with my photography project, I’m overflowing with images but even more importantly, I’m learning a lot about myself plus parts of myself that I hadn’t even realized had been hibernating have reawakened and are brightening my days.
And perhaps if you aren’t wanting a full fledged project but instead may be interested in some really creative ideas, especially things you can photograph or do at home, Kutovakika has several videos so maybe begin with her 100 Creative Photography Ideas at Home. She may be a bit silly but she is definitely all about having fun with the camera!
“I am not interested in shooting new things. I am interested to see things new.” Ernst Haas
Since I’m accumulating so many images I’ve been mulling over what to do with some of them. Although I post at least one each day on Instagram, I’m going to take some of the thematic images and display them here as an extra blog post every once in a while, similar to what I did recently with the diptychs. It will be an online gallery of sorts. With all the playing I’m doing, it would be nice to display some of what I observe and collect during my outings. I walk, explore, discover/observe, and photograph.
So tell me, have you embarked upon any kind of project in recent years — or during the pandemic? I’d love to hear about your project(s).
it sounds like you’re enjoying your project. i’m glad for you. recently, i’ve found my best self buried in design code. (except for the 10 minutes it took me to jot down the memory you evoked in me about leaves). thank you for that.
I think I understood everything ???
But that creativity is emerging more in this corona time is really true!
But very nice series of photos
Unfortunately, I would have to say that the pandemic has limited my photography. It’s clearly evident when I compare the number of photos taken in 2019 to 2020, especially with the lack of trips/vacations. So the projects have turned to more cooking and reading. I used to love reading, but my job has kept me from enjoying that more. I never made so many homemade soups before this year.