What Motivates you?
Photography as you probably know by now, is a bit of a passion for me. But one thing that I tend to gloss over is my passion for travel.
It just so happens that I get a big kick out of combining both of them together. There is the obvious fact that going somewhere exotic and new fuels my imagination and provides an easy way to motivate me as well as focus my efforts.
I’d like to ask you: what motivates you to take pictures? What was it that made you get into photography?
In my own case, I had a bit of a crisis in my life in my late 20s. There I was, a serious musician (well, I thought so anyway), trying to write music. I spent all my hours writing and producing music, and then one day, I just had enough.
It was burn out.
I felt I needed to get out and see some daylight. Smell the flowers and just ‘enjoy being’. I’d always been interested in certain photographers, but only from the aspect of being a viewer. It was only when I went on a trip somewhere that I got bitten badly. I found that traveling really opened up my life in many ways. The chance encounter with someone, the cultural differences between there, and here.
Being able to come home with memorable images was my initial intention when I took my camera with me, but now…. well, I think the motive has been blurred so much that I’m unclear if I travel now to make photos as my main objective, or whether the process of photography is used to heighten my travel experiences. I suspect it’s a little of both.
Let me explain a bit further. It’s all very well going somewhere to see a new country or culture, but when I have a camera with me, the whole dimension changes. My visual awareness becomes heightened and I see things that I probably wouldn’t notice just being a general onlooker. So in that way, photography is a device I use to heighten my travel experiences. It puts me in situations that I wouldn’t ordinarily be in as an average tourist. Getting up for sunrise, being in some remote part of a national park in Iceland at 3am, just me, a camera and my own thoughts for company, for example. This certainly adds another dimension and richness to my traveling experiences.
But on the other hand, I love photography. It’s true that you don’t have to go to exotic places to make great photos. If you are creative enough, it’s possible to make great photos anywhere, anytime. But it has to be something that stirs an interest in you to make the images in the first place. You have to find something that gives you ‘drive’. Travel really does this for me. Being in an alien landscape, or immersed in a culture that is very different from my own heightens my awareness and inspires me in such a way that it feeds my photography.
So for me, travel and photography are one and the same.
It’s really important to find something that can drive your photography, and you will usually find that your photography will probably have a direct impact on it too.
So in your case, what is it that drives you to make pictures?
good question, tough to answer, to be honest. But you are right, it has to be something that makes one get up at 3 am just to drive 300 km on country roads to get on a spot ready for sunrise, end up with clouds and rain and not give up :)
To me, it’s about the way I interract with the places and the people I met in my travels. I am trying not to simply record what I see, but to tell a story about what I’ve seen – something that I’ve never been able to express in words, unfortunately
I love photo because I love the diversity of the world – and that’s why i like to travel a lot, as well.
Another drive for me is simply the quality of my photos – if I realise that I’m making progress, year after year, that’s a big reason to continue doing it
Comment by Dumitru — 23 June, 2008 @ 9:32 pm
I just love creating memories; to leave behind something that may be gone someday and having someone see the picture some time in the future and saying “so that is what it looked like”.
It could be a person, place or thing, it doesn’t matter what it is, if it catches my attention then I always think that someone else would like to see this as well and I try to create as faithful a record of it as I can.
I just enjoy using a camera to stop time, capture a moment, create a memory and hoping it will give rise to a smile as someone enjoys viewing what I’ve created. It’s just plain fun.
Comment by gc — 26 June, 2008 @ 8:43 pm
Thanks for your input there.
I guess we just do what we have to do. There is a drive or interest that makes us want to pick up a camera.
It’s good to hear that you are both more interested in the experience – being somewhere special, or capturing a special moment.
Comment by Bruce Percy — 27 June, 2008 @ 9:57 am
I love your photos.
I just recently got into photography. I like it because it a creative outlet for me. You re-look at everything around you and find something interesting. A picture worth a thousand words,and there are so much things you can do with your camera and make this visual picture in your mind come true. I am amazed. I love traveling but don’t do it much, and your workshop sounds so much fun. I hope I can join one sometime and take some amazing photos.
Comment by amelieux — 2 July, 2008 @ 12:33 am
For me it was a combination of needing a creative outlet to combat professional burnout (as a software engineer, that is), and a love of the outdoors.
Comment by Tamerlin — 2 July, 2008 @ 7:17 pm
Hey Bruce..love the blog topic and I’m gonna have to take a shot at it. Well for me…I love the fact that photography is a limitless window into soooo many things. Like for instance a closer look at the world around, about people, about places, beauty, ugliness, uniqueness, similarities and I could go on and on here. There is sooo much and the uber wicked part is that one can show all this in just 1 photograph. The mood, the tone, the style, the conception, the imagination, the inspiration, creation…list goes on for days!. All I know is that the deeper I get into photography, the more I learn about the world and most importantly about myself and how this crazy world relates to my life. I may never sell a photo…I might not make a living of photography but what I found is an art/craft that I will treasure for the rest of my life. I’ve had a dslr in my hands for 2 short years. I can’t wait to see what I will create in 5 years…10 years…20 years.
Comment by notegra — 17 July, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
I love Nature, started with looking at insects. Then took some photos for records. Then started a web site about insects and spiders (www.BrisbaneInsects.com). Then need more pictures to feed the web site.
My insect photos were for recording only. I think I should make those photos look beautiful as well. I should learn to take photo seriously. I am thinking may be I can start with taking serious landscape photos frist. And I find your web site.
I agree with you that with the camera, it forces me to think more and study more on the objects than just a general onlooker.
I love the light of your photos.
Comment by pchew_brisbane — 4 September, 2008 @ 4:57 am