The Photographer's Muse

Over the next few days you will see a new tab on the home page called  “The Photographer’s Muse”.  This new page will include weekly exercises designed to unlock your creative potential and it will introduce you to some ideas and concepts designed to encourage your growth as a photographer.  Think of The Photographer’s Muse as a sort of Photo Flashcard - exercises designed to help you develop your creative voice.  I’ll also post them on Twitter and on Facebook where I will encourage you to share your images and your comments about the exercises.

 Martha Graham put it beautifully: “There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.” 

 I would take it one step further.  I very much believe you have an obligation to express your creativity, to find your voice, to explore the world around you with the tools and techniques you have at hand.  It has been my experience that in this exploration you will find tremendous pleasure.  There is a great line from Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel “Eat, Pray, Love” that goes something like this: “In a world of disorder and disaster and fraud, sometimes only beauty can be trusted.  The appreciation of pleasure can be an anchor to one’s humanity.” 

 The pleasure you derive from being creative originates with passion.  So a good place to start is to answer the following question:  “What are you passionate about?”  Try answering that question photographically.  What moves you?  What do you respond to? 

As I write this, there is a gentle rain falling in our backyard, and I am looking out the studio window at lush, deep greens, intensified by the diffuse light, and I know that this is “catching” me on some level because I can hardly wait to grab the camera and head out to shoot.  

 So, dig a little deeper.  Try the exercises outlined in The Photographer’s Muse.  Strive to find that anchor of your humanity - your creative voice.