Aids to Creativity for Photographers

by John S. Butterworth

F or those of us who join photographic clubs, photography

is not a hobby; it is our creative outlet. While some of our
images undoubtedly will be of a documentary nature, we
must take care to make sure that we nurture our creativity, be-
cause that will lead to our best and
most satisfying work.
Creative ideas however come from
reverie and daydreaming, not from
picking up our cameras and taking
action. Ideas are generated from
mental “doodling” followed by ex-
perimenting with different imple-
mentations.
Creativity comes from deep emo-
tions. Think of some of the greatest
works of art and literature: they come
from passionate feelings and some-
“Queen of Hearts”
Obviously, the idea times from great tragedies. To stimu-
came first, implementa- late ideas, we can deliberately expose
tion afterwards. ourselves, sometimes vicariously, to
some of these factors by any number
of activities, including:
• Looking at the work of great artists
• Reading poetry or literature
• Keeping a “Creativity Journal”
• Choosing a theme to pursue
• Investigating new styles
• Taking a course or workshop
• Collecting articles and photographs
• New equipment or software
• Travel
Of course, you can combine some
of these factors. Let’s say that you
chose the theme “Chiaroscuro” to
get you started. You could then
look at what some of the great art-
ists such as Caravaggio did in their
work. In mental doodling you
might then come up with a number
of your own ideas on how to ex-
ploit this technique.
Works in other media: some-
“Checkmate”
times reading poetry or literature, Mental doodling on the
or indeed listening to music can in- theme of “Chiaroscuro”
spire creative ideas. Consider, for led to an image which is
example, the following poem symbolic on several lev-
els. A woman’s hand,
(“Song X”) by W. H. Auden:
holding the white queen,
There stands the deserted castle is placing the black king
Ready to explore; in checkmate (game
over).
Enter, climb the marble staircase
Open the locked door
Cross the silent empty ballroom,
Doubt and danger past;
Blow the cobwebs from the mirror
See yourself at last.
What image did you see? Yourself or someone else? Who?
Where? If you think about this for a while, in a relaxed state,
does it inspire any ideas for images? resulted in a fresh outburst of
creativity.
Poetry is very succinct and the words well-chosen to inspire re-
flection. Literature can also build mental images, though per- Photography has also had its
haps in a less succinct manner. For example: share of new styles, such as
Photo-Secessionism, Pictori-
The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the be-
alism and various individual
ginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea
styles such as the Photograms
and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the
and solarizations of Man Ray.
luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up
There are also those who spe-
with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas
cialize in “compositing” such
sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits. A haze
as Jerry Uelsmann (www.
rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing
uelsmann.net). The appeal of
flatness. The air was dark above Gravesend, and brooding
compositing is that it enables
motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth.
images to be made which
-Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, p.1 cannot be photographed di- A Composite Portrait
This surely conjures up a refulgent image, but without reading rectly due to their creative na- To focus attention on the sub-
ture. The advent of digital im- ject, the background was
all day, how do we catch and retain gems like this for further blurred and the picture
contemplation? This is where we need: aging and Photoshop has
cropped closely to create an
made compositing practical “Open Form” composition,
The Creativity Journal: a book, perhaps a ring-binder, for almost everyone. where the viewer must fill in
where you collect ideas, flashes of inspiration, quotations, im- areas outside the frame. Spe-
ages, cuttings from magazines or newspapers or where you Travel Photography: this cial brushes and the “Emboss”
simply write something as often as possible: for example, short is a time when we always filter in Photoshop were used
essays resulting from interesting experiences which could lead carry our cameras. The great- to create an “oil painting” ef-
est danger in travel photogra- fect. The jar and brushes were
to a creative image. In short, it becomes a repository of ideas photographed separately
that you can’t use immediately, but don’t wish to forget. Fre- phy is that it promotes action
against a black background so
quently, the very act of writing can lead to other creative over contemplation, because that they could be extracted
thoughts which might not have occurred to you otherwise. we are undergoing new and and superimposed on the por-
relatively transitory experi- trait. Finally, a cast shadow
Investigating new styles of expression: artists have al- ences which we like to docu- was developed to give the
ways looked for new techniques. This is why painters have de- ment. Consciously or not, we brushes separation.
veloped new approaches such as chiaroscuro, tenebrism, poin- tend to imitate successful im-
tillism and whole new movements such as Fauvism, Cubism, ages others have taken and we end up with something banal.
Orphism, Dadaism, Rayonism and so on. Each new adventure
To get a modest amount of creative content one can try apply-
ing a broad theme as frequently as practical. This is a type of
enforced contemplation. For example, the theme could be
“Contrast.” This was the essential design element developed by
Johannes Itten of the Bauhaus school of Art, Design and Archi-
tecture in the 1920s.
Contrast can be between light and dark (chiaroscuro) between
shapes, colours, etc. This partial list is from the Bauhaus basic
design course:
Point/Line Light/Dark
Plane/Volume Black/White
Large/Small Much/Little
High/Low Smooth/Rough
Long/Short Hard/Soft
Broad/Narrow Still/Moving
Thick/Thin Light/Heavy
This idea of contrast has strongly
influenced mass media graphic
design ever since its introduction.
Interpretation of Images:
don’t be surprised if viewers of
This image illustrates con- your creative work come up with
trast in several aspects: a completely different interpreta-
large/small; rough/
tion of it from the one you in-
delicate, etc.
tended. Here is an interesting
comment by Picasso:
A picture is not thought out and settled beforehand. While it
is being done it changes as one’s thoughts change. And
when it is finished, it still goes on changing, according to
the state of mind of whoever is looking at it. A picture lives a
life like a living creature, undergoing the changes imposed
on us by our life from day to day. This is natural enough, as
the picture lives only through the man who is looking at it.
Picasso on Art, ed. Dore Ashton, 1972, p.8
Conclusion
Documentary pho-
tography is a
crowded field,
where it is all too
easy to con-
sciously or uncon-
sciously imitate
the successful
work of others.
We must be care-
ful to avoid “Harbour Scene”
“image maturity” This type of alternative technique enables
the viewer’s attention to be focussed on the
such as silky- important parts of a complex scene.
looking waterfalls,
which have become a cliché.
There is however no limitation on ideas. Creative work can lead
to our best and most satisfying images because they are unique
to us. Our photographs succeed, not when we like them, but
when they evoke the strong emotional response in others that
we intended.
Further Reading
Ueland, Barbara, If you want to Write: A Book about Art, Inde-
pendence and Spirit, Graywolf Press, reprinted 2007.
While primarily about writing, this book applies equally to any
creative endeavour.