Finding Inspiration

Week 8

What is Inspiration?

• Inspiration in artistic composition refers to an irrational and unconscious burst of creativity.

Finding Photographic Inspiration

• Most people think of photography as a "visual" art.
  
• It is, but it also represents a "verbal" art form.
  
• Photograhy often expresses what most people hard find to say.

Through Descriptive Words

• One of the most popular email joke forwards that makes its rounds every month or so is the collection of animal pictures that express a lot of feeling.
  
• Pictures of smiling cats and dogs, animals sleeping in amusing positions or crawling through shoes, hanging from branches, or sitting in front of the television with the remote on its lap.
  
• Photography inspires us to "feel" something.
  
• An eagle soaring makes us want to feel strong and proud. A kitten tangled in an akward position makes us shake our heads and agree, "been there, done that".
  
• We put words on the photographs to interpret them in our minds.
  
• Why not use the words to inspire the photographs?

Go Shopping For Inspiration

• A visit to a local stationery shop can open a whole world of possibilities for the photographer, revealing all the different ways photographs are used.
  
• They are used as backgrounds or anthropomorphic subjects which stimulate our imagination and emotions.
  
• Patterns are great for backgrounds as well as for use on printed papers and stationery. Wrapping paper, book covers, folders, notebooks, calendars, coffee mugs, and all kinds of things feature photographs.
  
• Study the types of images they use. Lots of animals, scenics, flowers, or patterns?
  
• Write down a list of what you find.
  
• Next, step over to the note cards, postcards, and calendars. Look for pictures featuring local subjects and locations.
  
• Write down a description of how they were photographed, where, and when.
  
• Do they feature popular landmarks, festivals, pr people doing regional activities such as surfing or hiking?
  
• When you get home, write down all the ways you can capture the same subjects on your list, but do so using your own unique perspective and abilities. You know you can do better than they can, so go out and do it.
  
• Now, take a step back and study the inspirational and motivational images before you.
  
• Images which denote happiness, sadness, friendship, rewards and acknowledgements, sympathy, apologies....write down the emotions triggered by these images along with a description of the image to help you remember.
  
• When you return to your home or office, take your different lists and examine them.

Connect Emotional Words to Images

• Which types of images are found on which subjects and connected with which emotions?
  
• Are note cards and posters which are funny usually featuring an animal?
  
• Do inspirational posters and cards feature mostly animals or landscape images? Why photographic subjects and images promote which emotions?
  
• Create a list of the various emotions found in the different products. Emotions like happiness, sadness, success, sympathy, and so on. Then write down the images used to represent those emotions.
  
• Check these types of images connected to their use and emotional qualities against your inventory. If you are lacking in some areas, put them on your list to go out and find and photograph.