“The reality is that it’s easier to be inspired than it is to create an original idea and we are hardwired to take the path of least resistance. It’s easier to jump onto a design inspiration gallery site than it is to sit down with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. It’s easier to follow a pattern than it is to test-drive new options. It’s easier to copy a style or idea that works than try something that might miss the mark or outright fail. Above all, it’s cheaper mentally for us to rally around what’s already been done and emulate it…”
The above excerpt is from a brilliant post by Owen over at Viget.com. Well worth the read. Do it.
Personally, I couldn’t agree more. How much time is the right amount to stroll thru galleries, troll creative sites, and watch online videos?
And what about you?
Are you too busy getting inspired by the work of others to create your own?
Do you read about the failures of others, so you don’t have to try?
Is the convenience of information actually reducing your willingness to struggle to make something worthwhile?
Cameron Moll has just share a really insightful presentation Good vs. Great(er) Design – See link at end. His take is similar in theme, but uses the words ‘influence’ to describe the activity of trawling the web for images and ideas to regurgitate in your own work.
‘Inspiration’ is the the true act of drawing upon your environment and searching your own insights to come up with something truly original – or at least something you can truly call your own.
http://noteandpoint.com/2010/06/good-vs-greater-design/
Nice article Chase….I think inspiration is a wonderful thing, however I have recently blocked other photographers on FB, I view blogs less and focus more on ME! I want to invest my time on how I can go from good to great! I have only a couple mentors that I truly can be dedicated to…other than that, there is absolutely way too much self promotion and look at me on the web…not a bad thing! Bottom line-follow your heart and passion, the rest will come….I’ve devoted 4 years of my life as a paparazzi photographer and realized that none of it is real. I realized how far I really need to keep away from celebrities and ego’s. I now shoot naturally, no editors to contend with…I ignore the competition and it seems like I shoot for fun and embrace new things now…this has increased my creativity 10 fold!!!
Joey
Best of luck to everyone.
Joey
I think German filmmaker Jim Jarmusch answered this question best with this quote:
“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery – celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc-Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from – it’s where you take them to.'”
The inclusion of “random conversations” as a source of inspiration is particularly poignant to me at this moment. I recently returned from a photographic trip through Iceland. At the end of the trip in Reykjavik I overhead a woman walking down the street mention a private press conference with the singer Bjork. I stopped her and asked for more info. In the end, I was able to make it into the conference (funny story about that) and get a portrait of Bjork — All because I was eavesdropping.
Chase, I dig your work. I saw you shot in Queenstown, New Zealand not to long ago. I love it there. I toured through that country in a van for 2 months. Hell, I ended up buying land down there. Anyhow, I have a bunch of New Zealand landscapes @ scottrobertsonphotography.com under “landscapes.” Obviously. If you have 5 minutes check ’em out. Much continued success to you.
– Scott
For me the inspiration is less about what someone else has been shooting or how they have done it, but about making me want to go out. Sometimes I get stale, I stop going out, I stay indoors and do SFA. I start reading and then that kinda gives me the kick I periodically need, to get outside.