When Inspiration is Lacking

Today is one of those days when you wake up, get a taste of what the day will be like, and then decide you'd be better off just rolling over and sleeping a bit more.

On these low-energy days I have a few sources of inspiration that I can count on to pull me out of my haze. One of them is the Magnum Photos blog: http://blog.magnumphotos.com/

In particular, there's a page where 35 different Magnum photographers give advice to young photographers. What does it all boil down to, according to some of the most incredible photographers in the world? - Wearing good shoes: http://blog.magnumphotos.com/2008/11/wear_good_shoes_advice_to_young_photographers.html

One of the photographers from whom I've learned a great deal is David Alan Harvey (www.davidalanharvey.com). I met him at a photography congress in Parati, and it was a very inspiring meeting. The three images in this post are all his.

Here's his advice:

What advice would you give young photographers?
You must have something to "say". You must be brutally honest with yourself about this. Think about history , politics, science, literature, music, film, and anthropology. What affects does one discipline have over another? What makes "man" tick? Today , with everyone being able to easily make technically perfect photographs with a cell phone, you need to be an "author". It is all about authorship, authorship and authorship. Many young photographers come to me and tell me their motivation for being a photographer is to "travel the world" or to "make a name" for themselves. Wrong answers in my opinion. Those are collateral incidentals or perhaps even the disadvantages of being a photographer. Without having tangible ideas , thoughts, feelings, and something almost "literary" to contribute to "the discussion", today's photographer will become lost in the sea of mediocrity. Photography is now clearly a language. As with any language, knowing how to spell and write a gramatically correct "sentence" is , of course, necessary. But, more importantly, today's emerging photographers now must be "visual wordsmiths" with either a clear didactic or an esoteric imperitive. Be a poet, not a technical "writer". Perhaps more simply put, find a heartfelt personal project. Give yourself the "assignment" you might dream someone would give you. Please remember, you and only you will control your destiny. Believe it, know it, say it.

He also explains how he got interested in photography. It's worth having a look, too:

When did you first get excited about photography?
"Lightning struck" when I was around 12. It hit me one day and I never looked back. I KNEW it. Total certainty. I was living in a small Virginia town and my "outside influences" came from books and from magazines. The early photo essays in Life and Look magazines struck a chord. The work of Robert Frank and Henri Cartier Bresson had the strongest impact because from them I could see that "ordinary life" was their "grist for the mill". I loved the work of many other photographers too, but war photographers needed a war, fashion photographers needed a model, sports photographers needed a game, and landscape photographers needed the Grand Canyon.....Henri Cartier Bresson and Frank just needed a street corner. Anywhere, anytime. I could relate to that, because I only had my neighborhood with not much "going on". I loved immediately the idea of transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary just by "seeing" and seeing alone. At the same time I got lost in the local library with the French Impressionists, Goya, and the light of Caravaggio. That was all I needed at the time to know beyond a shadow of a doubt what I wanted to do with my life.

For me, the part that I found the most interesting is this:

"ar photographers needed a war, fashion photographers needed a model, sports photographers needed a game, and landscape photographers needed the Grand Canyon.....Henri Cartier Bresson and Frank just needed a street corner. Anywhere, anytime."

And that's where the inspiration comes from - just sit and observe long enough and you'll find something to inspire you...