Lately I’ve been inspired by Cindy and what she has been doing with HAPTICPRESS.
NEW: MASTERS
MASTERS distills the key lessons from the masters of street photography. MASTERS Volume I is your essential photography primer– to push your photography education to the next level.
KYOTO BEBOP by CINDY NGUYEN
I had a realization: all of us want to and desire to be “artists”.
The big problem: we talk down on ourselves. We don’t have faith in ourselves. Rather than calling ourselves “artists” we just call ourselves “photographers.” Even worse, some of us are too shy to call ourselves “photographers.”
Don’t doubt yourself!
But friend, you are already an artist. If you like to make stuff, and you are inspired by other creators, you are an artist!
My biggest aversion to calling myself an “artist” was that it felt pretentious. It was thinking of art with a capital “A”. “Art” (in my mind) was only reserved to those “elite” people in ivory castles. The only “real” artists were painters, emo poets, and needed to have some sort of drug habit.
But… I realized that anyone who likes to make stuff is an artist.
All children are natural-born artists and creators. They like to make and build stuff. They like to make drawings, make sand castles at the beach, and build masterpieces with legos.
Yet, as we get older, we are “judged” for our art and creations. We soon lose the self-confidence in making stuff. Why? Our teachers and “art teachers” tell us to color within the lines. To paint the sky blue (not purple). We are told to make “realistic” renditions of reality…rather than how we see reality.
But seeing all the artists I admire (Picasso and Matisse being two)— they reverted to making “child-like” drawings as they got more mature in their art. For example, Picasso started off drawing “realistic” paintings in his early career. Towards the end of his life, his work became more and more abstract— child-like. Same with Matisse, towards the end of his life he did “child-like” cutouts. They both had a spirit of play.
I’m convinced: the best way to be productive and to always create is to have a spirit of play. Don’t make your artwork painful. Rather, have fun.
Treat your photography as such. Play with your camera. Don’t strive to make “serious” pictures. Rather, make pictures that excite you.
Not only that, but don’t limit yourself to just photography. Explore and experiment with other mediums. Make movies, film, or drawings. Sketch with your phone, tablet, or just with a piece of printer paper.
Make poems from your mind. Get into freestyle rap or poetry. Get into theater, dance, or sculpture. Make any type of art which elevates you.
Have fun and be creative every day!
ERIC
Inspire yourself with HAPTICPRESS >
SEAN LOTMAN X HAPTIC: Sunlanders, or a Technicolor Painting of Japan
HAPTIC presents SUNLANDERS by SEAN LOTMAN. Described by Eric Kim as one of the top color photobooks of the past five years, SUNLANDERS will be available for purchase in the HAPTIC shop for a limited time. >>The first 10 orders will receive a free gift of STREET NOTES MOBILE. <<