Inspiration, essential for your photography!

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Inspiration does not come naturally to everyone. You may be full of ideas one day, while the next you have no idea what you want to photograph and walk around feeling a little lost. What is inspiration really, and how do you become inspired?

Synonyms for inspiration include enthusiasm, passion and zeal. It shows itself as the DESIRE to make something, to CREATE something. This feeling can be triggered by something outside you, but it can also apparently rise up inside you from nowhere.

You stimulate creativity by seeing the same thing as everyone else, but trying to give it a completely different twist.

Everyone is creative, and you can help it along by relaxing regularly and doing 'boring' things. This opens the inner door in your mind from your logical brain to your artistic brain.

Going for a long walk on your own, a bike ride, swimming, gardening, running, doing crafts, listening to music or taking a power nap. Giving your brain a reset by taking a step back helps enormously when it comes to stimulating ideas. It is a good idea to write them down somewhere before you lose them again.

If you want to give your creativity a boost, I can recommend the book The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Re-released this year. It is a real practical book, so be prepared.

On Photofacts Academy, it was Micky Hoogendijk who put me on this path in 2018. Her From Image to Art series touched me deeply.

In it, she explains how blocks get in the way of the free flow of creativity, and how things can change when you become aware of them and clear them away.

Another recommendation for inspiration is the English-language website 1x.com. Photographers from all over the world present their work/art here. Whatever kind of photography you are interested in, you can find an incredible number of ideas here.

The articles in the Magazine, under MORE, are interesting too. For example, the 'Photographer of the week' articles, in which photographers talk at length about their passion, what they feel and think, and how they have become who they are today.

Finally, on Sigrid van Iersel's website I found a fantastic overview of no fewer than 100 sources of inspiration. Including some in the field of photography!

There is an incredible amount to find and read about inspiration and creativity. But the most important thing is still to look within yourself for what interests you most and come up with something surprising.

I hope I have given you some more food for inspiration.

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