Creativity Is An Active Exercise

All photographers, all creatives in general, are familiar with “the slump.” That time period when you just don’t feel it. The thought of picking up the camera and going out feels daunting. When you look at work you once loved and now it’s “Ugh! This is SO boring! What was I thinking??” Days, weeks, months go by and you just can’t seem to shake it. Then you begin to worry. “Am I still an artist? Will I ever create work that I love again? Am I the only one feeling this way??” The answers are yes, yes, and no. BUT… That BUT is a big deal. It’s a big deal because what we do in between may make the difference in the answers to those questions. And I recently discovered this. Like, yesterday discovered it.

I haven’t felt it recently. I went from taking photographs to taking pictures. What’s the diff, you ask? Photographs, to me, are art. Taking pictures can be something you do when you’re bored or in a slump and feel like you just have to press the shutter so you can still feel legit. A lot of professional photographers refer to photography as making pictures. And I agree. The manner in which they use that phrase means creativity; photographs. The word MAKING is the difference. “Making pictures.” For me, MAKING pictures is different than TAKING pictures.

I previously had two Twitter accounts. One was specifically to engage politically. To sound off on what I find to be crazy, bigoted trash talk. I also love interacting with some really great folks that I have common ideas with on that platform. My other account was specifically for my photography. I only posted photographs. I would like other tweets, but would not retweet them on this account because I only wanted my photographs displayed on my Twitter feed. My Twitter photography account was linked to my SYR ART webpage. WELL, after battling with some Twitter trolls, my “fun” Twitter account got suspended. Slowly but surely my photography-only Twitter account began to morph into my general account, which is exactly what I did NOT want. Then I became concerned. While I have no problems at ALL speaking my mind on Twitter, I didn’t want someone interested in my photography seen on my webpage, to click the Twitter link and have it lead them to what was formerly my photography account and now no longer was. I also continued to post on Instagram, but it began to feel like my IG account was now being filled with pictures, not photographs. All of this was adding to my creative stifle.

I decided I needed to create a new Twitter account specifically for my photography. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to because Twitter had a policy that if an account was suspended, no new accounts could be created. I’m guessing because I have a currently active account, it wasn’t a problem. I now have a new account dedicated to my photography. I felt inspired again. I made sure to update my webpage Twitter link so that it now connects to my new photography page. Now, a new photography account needs what? New photographs. I grabbed my camera, went downtown, and took photographs. After I came back home and edited the photos, I uploaded them to my new Twitter page. This morning I grabbed my phone and cleaned up my Instagram page as well. I got rid of the pictures and made room for photographs.

After creating the new Twitter photography account, I had an epiphany. I realized that it may not be jumping back into whatever our art is that will snap us out of a creativity slump. Meaning, I don’t think just picking up the camera and going out to shoot would have ended my slump. It was creating a new space to showcase future photographs that helped end it. I didn’t want to take new photographs and put them on my “no longer photography only” Twitter photography page. I didn’t want to add new photographs to my Instagram page that had not been seriously curated in months, and honestly, no longer felt like the photography showcase that it once did. However, after overhauling my creative spaces, it felt like a clean slate. The wheels began to turn again. And this time, when I went out with my camera, I came home with photographs.

LaTrenda