Stop coming up with new ideas
Tuesday 8 October 2024, 23:23 by Elvira Smit | 1,823 views | 0 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
The best exhibitions take place in my head. My work hangs there exactly as I intended: the images are perfectly framed, the prints are rich in colour and the choice of paper suits the atmosphere of the photographs. The accompanying texts are free of waffle and, of course, there are crowds of people in front of every photograph of mine.
A head full of ideas
My head is overflowing with ideas for new projects. That feels good, because everything that exists in my head is perfect. In fact, it actually feels as if I've already done all the work. And without all those bloody hurdles. But it doesn't get me very far.
As a creator, I'm constantly navigating between coming up with ideas and putting ideas into practice. If I stay on the ideas side for too long, nothing happens. But if I spend too much time in execution mode, I'm afraid I'll never come up with anything new again. Quite tiring.
An example
This week I set out with the aim of making a start on a project that was already finished in my head, but for which I hadn't taken a single photo yet. After an hour and a half of photography, I came home, looked at the images, did some more research and binned the whole thing: the idea wasn't viable at all and was based on a wrong assumption.
Of course, that's not a problem at all. Most of my ideas end up in the bin anyway. But what is a shame is that I spent weeks thinking about a project that made no sense. Even though I secretly knew I needed to get out and do it. I didn't feel like it, because the exhibition in my head was so good that I kept returning to it.
Nice and safe.
Get started on an idea as soon as possible
What I learned from this: coming up with new ideas is fine, but make sure you turn them into something tangible as soon as possible. Write your project idea down on paper, go out and take photographs, print the whole lot out and hang it on the wall. Don't expect perfection, but let yourself be guided by the potential it contains. And have fun with the hurdles you encounter along the way. It gives much more satisfaction than that exhibition in my head.
Well, everything always comes down to the same thing: the biggest obstacle in bringing my work to fruition is me.
About the author
Ik heb een eigen fotografieblog, Kronkeling. Daar schrijf ik om de week twee artikelen. Over hoe je je blik kunt scherpen, je creativiteit kunt aanwakkeren, en over fotografen die mij inspireren. Geen technische zaken, wél over hoe je leert kijken. En dat blijkt nog een hele klus. Een mooi startpunt zijn de Kronkeltips, die vind je hier.
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