Some quick creative thoughts for you:
NOT WHAT IS ‘BEST’, BUT THAT WHICH LEAST GETS IN YOUR WAY?
The first thought of today —
Don’t optimize for the ‘best’ creative tool, but the creative tool which least gets in your way.
For photography, RICOH GR III. After much deliberation, the reason why it is still superior to iPhone is because —
The RICOH GR has a physical on/off button, and a physical shutter button, which is faster and more streamlined to shoot photos.
Even assuming that one day the iPhone Pro gets superior image-processing aesthetics to the RICOH GR, I would still prefer the RICOH GR. Why? Your hand doesn’t change and evolve. That which best is held in your hand is the best.
Even the funny thing — when observing my niece Amelia … even at a young age, she still preferred shooting photos with my RICOH GR, or with my Lumix G9 (physical button) when compared to an iPhone … which is ironic, because we think nowadays kids prefer phones over physical tools and devices. But it still seems, kids prefer the physical, the haptic. There is nothing which fascinates my son Seneca more than physical buttons, and physical feedback.
How do you best creatively express yourself?
There are a trillion ways you can be ‘creative’. Creativity just means the love of creating. You can create anything — you can create poems, create prose, create blog posts, create verses, create rhymes, create raps, create photos, create videos, beats and music, create visual images (calligraphy, abstract images … whether digital or analogue), etc.
Don’t ‘optimize’ your creativity
The desire to create the most ‘optimal’ in art … this gets in our way. I say create like a child — create without hesitation, create without notions of ‘perfect’ or ‘good’ or ‘bad’.
Observe how kids draw, play with blocks, play with rocks, etc. Observing Seneca has been one of the greatest blessings in life.
If you make something, and you don’t share it … does it still exist?
Philosophically, certainly if you make something and you don’t share it with anyone, it still exists in a physical or a metaphorical space. But the better question:
If you make something and you don’t share it with anyone, will it IMPACT any other human?
No. If your goal as an artist is to maximize your impact, sharing your art works is good.
And what is the best way? Your own website/blog, not social media.
Nature
The upside of being outdoors, hiking, and stuff like that:
There is something about the great outdoors which does spark some sort of creative energy within you.
I have some theories — perhaps it is the additional oxygen in the air from the trees, the higher elevation, the fresh air, the view (gives you a chance to exercise your depth-perception) which awakens a creative spirit within yourself. There is a reason why humans love great vistas.
Therefore if you want a creative spark, just go on a hike. Bring along your camera, and love the view.
Don’t stay home
Being at home is anti creativity. Certainly you can be creative at home indoors, yet … less so than being outdoors and out and about.
Why is this? I think it is because your indoor home environment is too steady, too stable, too predictable. Unpredictability, randomness and chance is better to spark in you a creative motivator.
Creative photography assignments
- Only shoot a certain type of shape all day: Only photograph squares, rectangles, circles, or triangles for a whole day.
- Only shoot macro or at 1 meter for an entire day: Limit your focus distance — this is a good creative constraint.
- Only monochrome: Even if the thing is colorful, or you see an epic sunset, try to shoot it in monochrome, and figure out how you can still make a great image.
Upload your most creative photos to arsbeta.com
CREATIVE TOOLS
HAPTIC TOOLS:
- CREATIVE EVERY DAY MOBILE // PRINT
- HENRI NECK STRAP MARK IV (in CRIMSON RED x PHANTOM BLACK)
- ERIC KIM NECK STRAP (MARK II): The strap for RICOH GR II/III/IIIx and beyond
BOOKS
- MONOCHROME by KIM — PDF DL
- STREET PHOTOGRAPHY 103
- PHOTOGRAPHY ENTREPRENEURSHIP MANUAL by ERIC KIM // PDF // ePub
New? Start here.
If this sparked any creative ideas within you, feel free to share or forward to a friend!