Creative Copying
Do you often admire other photographers, not only for their beautiful photos, but also for their good ideas?
Their skills and creativity make them seem like a totally different species of artist than ourselves, don’t they?
Well then I’ve got good news for you. These photographers were once where you are now and they only became so good, because they allowed themselves to be inspired by other photographer’s work.
They learned the art of creative copying.
Trying to be completely original is exhausting and sooner or later photography will lose its joy. It’s like trying to make something out of air.
Take a step back and look at musicians. Think about all the electro bands of the Eighties.
Yes, they were very similar, but each band still had its own style. They were all learning from each other and making their own thing. They all came to life at roughly the same time. This music style then morphed into other styles in the nineties, and has continued to develop to this day.
It’s an ongoing process.
Each of these artists created something of their own.
Maybe synthy music of the Eighties is a bad example, because you didn’t really like it and it all sounded the same. In that case think of a band that you like and sooner or later you’ll come up with a similar band that has a similar style.
And it’s the same with photography.
Each of your good photos is the result of a combination of ideas that came before.
Have you ever thought less of a great artist when you learned that his / her work was influenced by another artist? Every Biografie you read tells you who inspired their work. You’ll often read about individual projects and how they came about and each time it was because they had been inspired by someone else’s work
.
The work of every artist alive or dead is the result of an evolution of ideas. Beginning with those of others and being continued by the artist her- / or himself.
The path to creativity and original ideas:
Acknowledge that you love someone else’s photo to the extent that you wish with all of your heart that you created it yourself.
Find 4-5 photographers and analyse their photos
Create something similar - but different.
In the same way that you feel a connection and are inspired by other people’s photos you will also feel a connection to shapes, colours, subjects, settings, motifs and editing styles.
Don’t ignore them.
As long as you aren’t creating a 100 % replica and claiming it’s your own original idea, then you are doing nothing other than learning and developing.
I hope this post has inspired you to let yourself be inspired by others.