As a photographer, or any image maker, you can choose to sit around waiting for inspiration to pop up by itself. Personally, I’m a firm believer that feeling inspired is a state of mind you can teach yourself to find when you need it. So, what can we do to get started? I’m gathering and sharing my methods and favorite creators as a resource to help keeping our inspirational juices flowing. And I invite you along for this series of “INSPIRATION FOR IMAGE CREATORS”!
Inspiration for image creators can come from so many different areas. When I saw this series of Short Films, or fables, from Five Knights Productions I just couldn’t stop watching. It transported me to another time and place, but still holding me aware… Short films can just like photography tell a story but doesn’t have hours of the viewers attention to convey the feeling and message it is made to transfer. With these fables, to me it’s especially the sceneries, the tempo, and that magical emotion that draws me in, and spits me out feeling that I want… no, NEED… to go out and continue creating my images. Right away. And that is inspiration at its best.
So here it is, the first of the KIN fabels. Watch the second film, Salvage, here. And the third film, Requiem, here. It’s in this third film the story ties together.
INSPIRATION FOR IMAGE CREATORS – Digital Illustration Art
As a photographer, or any image maker, you can choose to sit around waiting for inspiration to pop up by itself. Personally, I’m a firm believer that feeling inspired is a state of mind you can teach yourself to find when you need it. So, what can we do to get started? I’m gathering and sharing my methods and favorite creators as a resource to help keeping our inspirational juices flowing. And I invite you along for this series of “INSPIRATION FOR IMAGE CREATORS”!
Photographers tend to look a lot at other photography to get inspired. Although, I’ve heard so many times from photographers that they feel trapped by comparing their images with the work of others within the same field. Thoughts like “oh, somebody else already did that” or “ah, if I only got to shoot those who Annie Leibovitz shoots” can hold you back rather than inspire. I find that by indulging in art that you simply can’t create yourself can help to open up your mind and let go of any negative thoughts.
Personally I’ve noticed that I more and more look at other art forms. Here are 3 Digital Illustration Artists who keep on rocking my world and give me a huge influx of a desire to create!
Everyone expects me as a photographer only to have photos on my walls at home, but last year we purchased this beautiful, and wonderfully quirky, art piece of Christian Schloe; “Dreaming of Spring”. And it is now inspiring me everyday with its mystique.
Christian Schloe is a digital artist who creates surreal scenes featuring bizarre moments. Realistic elements are blended together to form new possibilities. As a viewer you are transfered from reality into a dreamy, fictional world.
I found that Christian quotes Peter S. Beagle;
“Anything can happen in a world that holds such beauty.”
Other than that Christian seems to prefer to speak through his images, and not through words. So instead of reading text, dive into his very special worlds, and let his art do all the talking.
Maggie is an American artist who works with creating digital images by the use of photographs, scanners, and Photoshop. She has studied photography at Yale and University of Florida, and after more than ten years as a still life photographer, she began to use the computer to create her images in 1996.
Her collaged digital artwork is often created with help of items she finds by frequently searching flea markets, eBay, or nature and she gathers everything that seem to have a story to tell. She also take her own photos with a point-and-shoot camera or use old photos of people. In her studio she makes small pastel drawings as backgrounds and scan each element into the computer separately. In Photoshop she arranges and plays with these layers in much the same way that she earlier worked with objects in her studio as a still life photographer.
In this video you can see a lot of Maggie’s work as well as get behind the scenes of how she creates them:
“I am interested in creating a cohesive, visual, believable space that the viewer can visually enter. So, I do not use a lot of transparency or create a space that is too visually complex. Ideally, I want the images to invite the viewer to engage and recollect, almost like entering a stage set or a scene from a dream.” Maggie Taylor
Maggie, through her surrealistic montages, surely transports the viewer into dreamlike worlds. And I love being in them.
You can find more images from and also articles about Maggie Taylor at the Artsy site.
This German graphic designer lives and works in Malaysia where she creates inspiration tickling surreal digital artwork. Using mixed media Catrin takes vintage photos apart and by experimenting in Photoshop she assembles them again into creating new content and stories.
“My images are all digital made. I collect old images and illustrations and put them new together in Photoshop. The working process is based on combining and the division of photographs, with removing, filling and retouch. Using digital medium I have far more creative possibilities and I can work much faster then on the canvas. Perhaps, my skills have been formed during the long years of working in front of my computer. Thanks to all that I can create my art best in digital.” Catrin Welz-Stein
INSPIRATION FOR IMAGE CREATORS – How to get inspired again and again..? Reflections from my latest teaching class
~I headed to Fotoskolan Göteborg this week for a full day to talk and teach the class about creating images. The day before I got interviewed by Moderskeppet about my work and I got the question how I approach ‘inspiration’, and if I wait for it to happen before I start to create or if I just start creating, hoping that inspiration will come? And what I do if inspiration doesn’t come..?~
And it hit me. As professional photographers we just can’t sit around and wait for inspiration to pop up by itself. What quality work could we deliver to our clients if we aren’t doing inspired work!? So… what can you do to get inspired, again and again?
“When doing my talks I love if my story inspires the students, but most of all I want to push them to start thinking about their own journey and why they love and started shooting from the start. A talk about me is… well… not about me, not really… I’m more like a channel into themselves. So instead when leaving at the end of the day I hope for the person who I just met has gotten some insight about who THEY are as image creators.”
So during the talk I let them answer some important questions that I’ve blogged about before, 5 essential questions as photographers. To remind ourselves what we actually love about photography, and also to keep pushing ourselves to do even better, be even better. This time I added the question “What environment and under what circumstances do you love to shoot in?”. Because answering those questions about inspiration myself I started to think about how important it is for us creators to just not sit around and wait for a magical moment to happen to us. I feel that instead we have our own destiny in our hands and we should expose ourselves to things that challenge us, that get our mind going, that inspires us. And what that is, is something we actively need to work on finding out.
I’m a firm believer that feeling inspired is a state of mind that you can teach yourself to find when you need it. It might not be easy, and sometimes we fail. But instead of just sitting around waiting for it, if we know what normally inspires us, and know what we like in an image, it is easier to go after it.
“So, what can we do to get started? First, I believe that you should start analyzing your own images. What do you like in the ones you like, and what is it that you don’t like in those that you don’t?”
Is it a specific light at a specific part of the day, or maybe a certain type of location, or maybe a special connection between people? You can also look at other people’s work and contemplate the same things. Start to write down the things that you do like. And answer those 5 (or 6…) questions as well. And as you go along, you will probably will be forming a statement of what you really really enjoy and like to create in your own work, and where.
“Once you’ve started to figure out what you like, it’s time to get moving. What do you think will happen, lets say, if you love shooting by the sea with the salty wind against your cheek and you love the breeze of seaweed… if you go out to the sea every now and then, compared to sitting inside at home in an air conditioned environment? What do you think would inspire you more?”
Maybe it’s time for us creators to leave our computers behind sometimes and just go put ourselves in the circumstance of what we love to shoot. If you find out that you love shooting food, a good idea might be to dedicate some time to cook something beautiful for someone you care about. Maybe sit down in the kitchen of someone else who is a great cook and just smell, feel, and taste what could be in front of your lens. Or lets say you are all into storytelling. Maybe sit down, all alone with headphones, with your favorite music album and listen through it. Not just through one song, but the entire album, and visualize the story told from beginning to end. Or have a long conversation with your grandma when asking her about a story from her youth. Or….
If you are like me, I love the connection between man and nature. I know that I almost always gets an idea for an image if I go out for a walk in the forest or by the sea. So that’s why I truly need to dedicate time to go out there a few times a week, to let those thoughts fly. To actively go out and search for my inspiration. And if I’ve got an assignment I always go out and try to find and indulge in that special location for that shoot, to get that inspiration flowing.
Lastly, I want to lift the questions out of the classroom and ask YOU. Do you know what gets you going? Do you have any great tips for getting your inspiration on? My tips are just the beginning and not the full answer to being inspired.
Please share your tip with the community in a comment below and maybe we can help inspire each other to get ourselves actively inspired. ⬇
Love, Jenny
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HIRING ME AS A SPEAKER, FEEL FREE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE!…
To tell a photographic story – Musings from this spring’s intern
“If you’ve, just like me, been in love with Jenny Jacobsson and her creative and well thought out pictures and stories, for a while, you’ve probably seen the one with a girl in a white dress, covered in pink paint, sitting on a ladder surrounded by cherry blossoms. The image, called “The Burden”, is about unrealistic ideals, it’s about all women who are suffering under warped expectations – it’s about me.
I met Jenny for the first time one cold morning in May 2014. I then only knew we were about to create an image and that I would be covered in paint – and that it probably would be cold. All those expectations came true and so much more. I strongly believe that some people are just meant to meet and become friends and that’s just what happened this cold spring morning.
Can you name the colour of your soul, Photography by Amanda Falkman 2014
So who am I, sitting in Jenny’s sofa, singing along with Mumford and sons? More than a girl tired of unrealistic beauty ideals who sometimes get tired from painting cherry blossoms?
Well, my name is Amanda and I’m just like Jenny a freelancing photographer with a request to create captivating images. I have a predilection for blurry foreground photography, liver spots and sparkler. I see all the days of the week in different colours, I ugly cry to Toy Story and I’m hopeless in love with a two hundred years old fortress called “Carlstens fästning” (Carlsten’s fortress).
Don’t forget me – she dances in the shape of shadow and wind, Photography by Amanda Falkman 2014
And the reason why I’m writing this blog post is because I have the honour to be Jenny’s intern and assistance this semester. The main reason why I chose her as my mentor (besides her bubbly and likeable personality) is her impressive capacity to tell stories through images. This is one of the many things I hope to become better at, when this semester has come to its end. Because in a society where we constantly see and come across pictures of all kinds I’ve started to wonder:
Can we, as photographers, use images to tell stories with important messages and in the extension make the world a better place?
Apocalypse, Photography by Amanda Falkman 2014
Take “The Burden” as an example – it’s an extremely beautiful image (highly objective opinion) but it tells you a story and highlights a major problem of our time.
So, as an exhortation from me to you is to start thinking about your part in making difference and what kind of problem you could highlight by creating an image and telling a story.”
Since it’s Throwback Thursday I want to revisit, and show you for the first time here on my blog, the conceptual portrait series ‘The creators’.
‘The creators’ is my examination exhibition project, shot and produced during my final year at Fotoskolan Göteborg (Photography School Gothenburg) and exhibited at Gothenburg Film Studios in December 2012.
THE CREATORS Examination exhibition series Portraiture
I – Pernilla – Writer, columnist, never-ending life reflector II – Eva – Dressmaker, fashion designer, bold style connoisseur III – John Ola – Composer, artist, stripped music hypnotist
Fascinated by the circle of inspiration and creativity, I knew I needed to focus my project on different types of creators. Reaching out to different types of artists, we initiated dialogues about what they do, why they create what they do, what inspires them, who they inspire, who they are… And the conversations shaped and carved out image ideas, building onto concepts. Through my portraits, I want to tell their stories, hoping to feed the circle of creativity.
5 essential questions as photographers – Artist talk at Fotoskolan Göteborg
I was invited to do an artist talk at Photography School Gothenburg (Fotoskolan Göteborg) yesterday and together we wrote down answers to five questions. When working and living as a photographer sometimes it can be difficult to try to stay true to your own visions and keep your creative pride, thinking that you need to create something else because you feel pressured to. I strongly believe that if you are not true to your own creative vision and pride, you will soon start to resent the work that you used to absolutely love. And also, I’m a firm believer that as long as YOU love what you create, there will be lots of others out there that do as well.
“To remind ourselves what we actually love about photography, and also to keep pushing ourselves to do even better, be even better, we ask ourselves these questions. Questions that we can go back to and rethink over the years, in constant evolution, to move forward, but still remind ourselves of where our true love for photography once started and what our core values are for the images we create.“
WHAT MADE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH PHOTOGRAPHY? | Remind yourself of that magic moment, or those magic images, that ones pushed you to start shooting.
THINK OF 3 THINGS THAT YOU LOVE IN AN IMAGE | Try to as often as possible incorporate those 3 things in your own images, to keep your voice and to create consistancy in your work. May it be a color, a subject, a location, an emotion, a genre…
IF YOU HAD NO LIMITATIONS, WHAT WOULD YOU PHOTOGRAPH? | If money or relying on others were no issue, what would you create? Is there anything you can do, right now, that can make you go out and shoot something similar, or even more awesome?
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE BETTER AT/STRENGHTEN YOUR PORTFOLIO WITH? | As photographers we need to constantly evolve and push ourselves. Right now, what can you do to evolve?
AS A PHOTOGRAPHER, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SPEND YOUR DAYS DOING? | Working as a photographer, we do not only pick up our cameras and photograph all day long. We need a focus as a business and spend our days creating more than photographs. For you, do you want to be hired by a company, sell prints, do exhibitions, do assignments, write a book, work for a magazine, teach…?
MY TIP FOR FURTHER READING
Conceptual imaginative portraiture truly makes my heart beat. If it does the same for you, and you want to learn more about creating it, visit my blog category Educational to find out more.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HIRING ME AS A SPEAKER, FEEL FREE TO SEND ME A MESSAGE!…
I’m happy to announce that I’m featured in .Get Inspired! Magazine. There is a mini-interview in there, answering questions about where I get inspiration from, what my most important tool is, what advice I can give to people, etc.
Inspiration from the fashion show of Borås Textilhögskola – EXIT13
Yesterday the journey went to Borås for the fantastic fashion show and exhibition of the textile and fashion graduate design students of Borås Textilhögskola. Not only did I want to support and get a close look at the newest work of Emelie Arvidsson (the extraordinary designer that I shot for last year), but going to events like this is reeeeally good for inspiration for your shoots. Also, it’s a great opportunity to get to see all the amazing talent that are present in your vicinity. And who knows, maybe you’ll find a great new collaborator! I know for sure there are a couple of designers here that really spark my interest… When I got back home I just had to take out my notebook and doodle down all the ideas I got during the night. Hopefully there could be something in there for the future.
But most of all, I’m truly stoked that I’m shooting the new collection “End of line” of Emelie Arvidsson next week! So stay tuned and follow me on my social media because soon we promise to try to blow your minds!
Designers above: Saina Koohnavard, Emelie Ahlner, Johanna Andersson, Emelie Arvidsson, Abril Vergara Lozano
INSPIRATION FOR IMAGE CREATORS – Photographer Rosie Hardy
As a photographer, or any image maker, you can choose to sit around waiting for inspiration to pop up by itself. Personally, I’m a firm believer that feeling inspired is a state of mind you can teach yourself to find when you need it. So, what can we do to get started? I’m gathering and sharing my methods and favorite creators as a resource to help keeping our inspirational juices flowing. And I invite you along for this series of “INSPIRATION FOR IMAGE CREATORS”!
Every photographer has a beginning. A story of how it all started. Maybe something happened that made you pick up the camera for the first time to capture it, something might have inspired you so much that you want to create something similar, or there can be tons of reasons why you start to be appealed by this amazing art form.
For me it was the first time when I came upon Flickr Explore and from there when I found the fantastic work of photographer Rosie Hardy. There was this girl, looking at me through my screen, and she was within another world. There was so much that caught me, the illusionary settings, the well balanced moods, the creative playfullness, that all got me to continue looking through that photostream. Again and again. And I had found my first photographer that truly inspired me and made me pick up my own camera.
Let Rosie inspire you as well! Have a joyful time going through her Flickr or visit her website.
Following inspiration overseas – Rosie Hardy workshop
When I first bought my DSLR (and we solemnly named it Cameron…) I was intrigued by what I could create with it. And I was amazed of what a difference the change from compact did to my photos. Out of curiousity I visited the Flickr Explore page that I’d heard would be a great source for looking at what others create with their cameras. It took me about 10 minutes of browsing, and then I stumbled upon it. There was this girl, looking at me through my screen, and she was within another world. There was so much about this image that caught me, the illusionary setting, the well balanced mood, the creative playfullness, that all got me to continue looking through that photostream. What I had found was my first inspirational photographer. Her name is Rosie Hardy.
As I begun to develop my knowledge within the art form and started up projects to move forward, I discovered many talented photographers out there that impressed and inspired. But I tended to always find my way back to Rosie’s work, noticing that it always gave me a huge boost of inspiration. Watching her improve with every piece she created was fascinating and pushed me to try to improve myself.
And then, last summer, a wonderful opportunity appeared. Rosie put up workshops in London! How could I miss this chance to meet one of my fav photographers in person, and to get some inside tips on how she manages to create her own unique little worlds? Of course, I couldn’t!
The day started with meeting up with Rosie at the cosy studio rented for us. Sitting down on a cool loft, with a variety of sofas and armchairs, all workshopers introduced themselves to get to know each other better.
Rosie continued to tell a bit more about herself, giving us some insights into what has pushed her and what she had done to continue growing as a photographer. Showing us her portfolio Rosie gave us tips and tricks on how she had been performing the shots and described her photography techniques while also answering a huge amount of questions being thrown her way.
After a great talk we went down in the studio to get into action. We were lucky to have the wonderful model Nhuc Tran for the day. Dressed in a marvelous sequin dress, we had no idea what kind of a messy state we soon would be putting her in… Rosie started off by going through how she would perform the shot she had in mind.
Rosie discussed with Nhuc how she wanted her to pose to get the shot and also, and very importantly in this case, how to throw the flour around 😉
Thereafter it was the workshopers turn. At a personal 1 on 1 time with Rosie everybody got their turns to create their own shot in mind with Nhuc. She and Rosie really worked hard with the flour, throwing it absolutely everywhere to create in a lot of the cases a very fairytale feeling of smoke and mystic.
I must say… I’m truly impressed with what an intensity and acceptance Nhuc covered herself and everything around her in flour. And oh my, what a mess we created!
After the big flour fight we got another chance to create a completely different kind of shot with Nhuc posing on a sofa, keeping her feet on a huge cupcake. Although, there were of course no huge cupcake, but instead we used a bin to be in the place of the cupcake, later on shooting a naturally sized cupcake, and then later on in post-processing integrating the cupcake into the place of the bin. Clever!
After the shoots we had a post-processing session, viewing Rosie’s workflow on her computer via a projector while she described what she did, and why she did it. Thereafter, we all went to the local pub, had well deserved drinks, and finished off a wonderful day with lots of laughs, great business tips from Rosie, and also some heartfelt moments with stories from both Rosie’s life and our own.
I flew back home to Sweden the day after the workshop, completely filled with new ideas, wonderful memories, new acquaintances, and most importantly of all, a big bucket of inspiration. And if there was something I’d learned at the workshop, it was that to get the perfect shot, sometimes you just will have to really throw yourself into it….
For more shots and Rosie’s description of the day visit her blog!
Below is my image from my session with Nhuc. I wanted to create a dramatic image, contrasting with the beauty of the dress and to go in the opposite direction than the fairytale effect of the flour/smoke. The rest of the interpretation, is up to you guys.
I’m sure that every photographer comes to moments when the inspiration is lacking. The will is there, but no ideas come to mind. For me, and hopefully a great tip to you, the excellency of the show So You Think You Can Dance is a solution to a drought of ideas. I’m romantically involved with the show. I jump on my bed of excitement when it starts, and I sob when it’s over. Not only is it sheer entertainment. The format, the people, the stories that the art form of dance can portray, the emotions that the work of the body can stir up… everything works together to make it my favorite series.
And when you are in contact with so much emotion, you can’t help your thoughts to start rolling. Combined with the perfection of the choreographies as well as the visuality of the pieces… POP! There is an idea for a shot. POP! There, I see another scenery in front of me for my next photo session. And it keeps going. Give it a try and be inspired by everything from the glitter and joy of Bollywood, the spice and steam in salsa, the movements and grace of contemporary, the creativity and funk of hip hop…
Take a moment to enjoy this piece performed by the full crew in episode 19, season 7. “Every little thing she does is magic” by Sting.
Can you name the colour of your soul, Photography by Amanda Falkman 2014
Don’t forget me – she dances in the shape of shadow and wind, Photography by Amanda Falkman 2014
Apocalypse, Photography by Amanda Falkman 2014
