Top 3 Creativity Killers

In a field of sunflowers, I went looking for Van Gogh. Instead, I found two things: One – I had no voice, nothing original to say about sunflowers. Two – When I got home I had pretty pictures of sunflowers.. A few years later, I tried again. And this time, not even a whisper of Van Gogh, just more pretty photos of sunflowers.

 

I didn't know why my creativity shut down in that field. It is unlikely I will try again. 

 

Here is what I discovered were my top three killers of creativity.

 

Projection

 

I wanted to see, to be, Van Gogh, so that is what I was looking for in the field. I projected that sunflowers should naturally lend themselves to brilliant art.

 

Confirmation Bias

 

The first trip I made to the fields I remembered as this: Bug Spray. Suntan Lotion. Porta Potty. Bugs. Being tired from lack of sleep. And a large field of sunflowers. Getting home and being shocked to find there was nothing artistic or original about any of the photos. Just a card full of pretty pictures of sunflowers. Where was Van Gogh?

 

The second time I went to shoot, I imposed this bias before I even got there. Why am I going? It is going to be nothing but sunflowers. I am going to be miserable. I even told the group I organized that I pretty much hated my first experience, but if they wanted to tag along feel free to meet me there. I will be the one with the disappointed look on my face. The photographers showed up; Van Gogh did not.

 

Emotional Experience

This is the mental lens we look through when we see our own photos. It used to be popular to go on vacation, take lots of slides and then invite your friends over to eat, drink and watch the slides while the couple described in detail what they experienced. By slide three, the only ones having fun were the couple who took the trip. It was impossible for them to understand why everyone else didn’t LOVE the slide show.

We might love or hate our photos based on the experience. Since the viewer doesn't get to experience it, we need to be sure that the emotion of the moment is clearly expressed.

 

I have failed in the sunflower field twice. I doubt I will go again. But I have succeeded at other locations. So I looked at what was different.

 

One lens, one body, one style. As I am always chasing just one photo for my portfolio, I don’t pressure myself to create a set worthy of a magazine. I am looking for a voice, for what feels like an original viewpoint. Chasing just one, I take a lot of magazine worthy photographs, but when I get the one, I know it before it hits the sensor.

 

In my bag. 50mm 1.2 and the 100mm 2.8. These are my go-to lenses. Other days, I might shoot just an 85mm, or a tilt shift, or.a fish eye. Once I commit, I see that location through that lens in my head.

 

If I find people at the location distracting, I go to ear pods and music. It calms me and lets me get into a flow state.

 

My third tool is that I take a time out or two. I use it to look at my environment. I take it so I can see what is really there and not what I think should be there. I attempt to remove the projection, remove the bias and only show the emotion in the actual photograph where the viewer can see and feel it.

 

In New Orleans, I decided to shoot beads. Beads in stores. Beads on people. Beads flying through the air. Then I look a time out  put in my ear buds and attempted to drop my bias. I realized one of the most interesting sights were the large number of people sitting quietly throughout the French Quarter hoping for handouts.  Nearly every one of them had a cardboard sign. Some felt sad. Some felt honest. Some of the signs were LOL funny. Those photos are far more interesting, at least to me, than the bead series.

 

You may find your voice in a field of sunflowers. I did not. If you go and try, it is unlikely we will meet there.

 

If you run into Van Gogh, tell him I said “Hi. Love your work!”

 

 

In memory of my friend Kym Way Gabrielson. Who I met on my first trip to the Sunflower field and who joined in on the second trip just to see how miserable I would really be. She wasn’t disappointed.

 

 



 

 

 

 


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