What to Photograph When You Loose Inspiration

Reading time: 5 minutes

“If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you. If you’re not out there, you’ll only hear about it.”
– Jay Maisel

I’d just started my Sunday run when a boy of no more than seven came hurtling past me on his bike, hit a curb and then flew sideways into a bollard folding him in half like a wet sock on a clothesline. I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that my first thought was, damn I wish I had my camera. This was followed swiftly by concern as I plodded over to check he was alright. He’d managed to stand up but you could tell a cascade of tears was inevitable, not surprising really, it was amazing that he was even upright at all. Luckily mum had just pulled up, into her arms he flopped and off I went on my merry way.

It really is amazing what I find interesting to photograph these days. Seeing that boy get obliterated by a bollard really made me think about all the possible things that can happen when you step outside your front door, an infinite number of things can happen really and that’s incredibly inspiring as a photographer.

When You Live Somewhere Boring

A lot of us live in dull places, we can’t regularly wander the streets of a city like London, or Paris, or risk life and limb trying to walk among the lunatics on bicycles in Amsterdam for example. We have to make do with what we have and often that isn’t enough for us. We complain, or find excuses or perhaps not surprisingly loose motivation completely to go out and take photos. But the beauty of having a camera is that it gives us a license to see, to explore, and to make a photograph of anything we so choose. Does that mean it’s always going to be a good photograph? Of course not. Does it mean it’s much harder to make meaningful work in a boring place? Yes absolutely, but to say there’s nothing to photograph is not true.

Brian Karlsson is a photographer that lives in New York City, the Mecca of street photography, and what does he do? He takes photos of trash. Literal trash on the street and his photos are sublime. There’s trash everywhere around the world, but he as an artist thought of how to turn that into something meaningful using his camera.

The great American photographer William Eggleston took photos of abandoned lots, gas stations, condiments on tables. His photographs? Spectacular. Ernst Haas took photos of oil spills and ripped posters, and I could look at those pictures for hours such is their beauty. The Italian photographer Franco Fontana pioneered colourful abstract landscapes, for example turning just a blue sky and a single cloud into a work of art. The point I’m trying to make here is that there are things to be photographed everywhere and the exciting thing is it’s for us to find the photos, make them and then build a body of work that means something to us and maybe one day will mean something to other people.

Serendipity

I live in a pretty, medium-sized town in the Cotswolds in England which many people love to visit on holiday for some reason. On the surface I used to find it dreadfully dull but have come to appreciate it a bit more the further along I’ve gone on my photography journey. There is actually a lot going on here, a mix of social classes, the racecourse brings a certain crowd and festivity to the town, there are also regular events. So yeah I should think myself lucky to live here really (although I’d bite your fingers off to live and photograph in London).

Anyway, the other day I was out in town and on the way back home I noticed a seven foot robot outside the town hall. Not something you see everyday and of course I took some photos. I didn’t know what I was going to photograph that day, I didn’t really even know what I was looking for, but I went out with an open mind and saw something worth documenting.

When it comes to photography, especially street photography, being out there in the world is the name of the game. If you’re out you can take photos. The more time you spend on the street the more chance you have of serendipity. If you take photos of everything that catches your eye, over time you’ll find themes that you might want to explore further, or you might just realise you don’t actually like photography and take up professional darts instead.

Finding Inspiration

When I don’t know what to photograph, I’ve had a string of bad luck on the street or I feel my work and creativity has gone a bit stale, I sit in my office flop open a photo book or two and then within half an hour it’s like I’ve had a mainline hit of inspiration - I grab my camera and head out the door. I can’t say enough that if you don’t know what to photograph you need to look at other photographers’ work, old and new. Look online if you don’t have any books, or go to the library (I think libraries still exist). The more work you see, the more it seeps into your brain, the more you can get excited about the challenge of turning the mundane into the extraordinary. I’ve used this quote before but as the author Cormac McCarthy has put it: ‘Books are made out of books’ - the same goes for photographs.

Observation

Photography is all about seeing: a singular broken daffodil on a path, lovers embracing, last light hitting a brick wall, a wistful stranger staring out of a cafe window, a child smashing sideways into a bollard. There are endless things to photograph. Street photographers especially are lucky because we notice more than most other people and because of this we see the variety of the humanity’s poetic moments and lead a richer, more rewarding life - in my opinion.

What you photograph is up to you, but there’s a whole world out there and all you have to do is explore it, even if that only means walking out your front door and down the high street, with enough perseverance and curiosity you’ll find something important to capture and keep for the rest of your life.

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Creative Envy and What to do About it

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5 Street Photography Mistakes You Need to Avoid