How making the right creative connection leads to better images

Written By Matt Parker

Coastal connections

Do creative discussions always have the right focus?

A lot of conversation in photography (and other artistic pursuits) seem to revolve around technical aspects of our practice. We debate equipment and technique. We talk about how we go about things. Not enough discussion appears to be about what drives us.

And yet, what we connect with, and what inspires our work seems to me to be far more important than the mechanical and procedural elements of our work.

Our creative connection drives our artistic direction

I have been thinking about this a lot recently as I have started working with new subjects and in different directions. This has led me to start examining my connections with my subject in greater depth.

Water has been the driving force on my images over the past year or so. This started with a desire to make images of my local stream, the Bybrook, last year. I started with no preconceptions on what I wanted to achieve but ended up with my MindGhosts project. It seems that the images resonate with many people who see them as well: they provoke plenty of discussions with viewers.

Since the spring, I have started working by the sea and more coastal areas. I have started expressing these new subjects in different ways. My images are still abstract, but one can begin to sense a bit more about what the subject actually is.

How do we build upon our connections?

I have begun to spend more time with my subject matter. I do this in a number of ways:

With my camera

This is the most obvious way to explore. It is something that we all do as photographers. What are the images that are potentially in front of us? I have enjoyed working in this way, playing, feeling free to see what happens in a more organic sense. From these explorations, projects grow, not always in the direction that I had envisaged. However, they would not be as in depth, as fulfilling if I had not send time with my subjects in different ways.

Physically

I enjoy walking. So I like to get out and get to know the landscape around my subject matter. However, it is just as important for me to sit on a beach and let the sand drift through my fingers or feel the shape and body of a stone in my hand. I like to spend time in this way before making images.

Mindfully

I also find it very valuable to simply be still around a subject. It doesn’t have to be a formal mindfulness session. Although I have trained to be more mindful, just existing in a place or near an object can be enough. Ignoring my camera, my phone or anything else allows me to feel more connected with what is around me. It can also be very good for one’s soul!

Writing

I am really enjoying free writing at the moment: just putting down whatever comes into my head. I often use a picture as a prompt. It is strange what can come out of a single image. Writing in this way has shown me that water invokes a lot of thoughts and feelings about memory. My words have encouraged me to try new directions in image making and inspired new projects.

Drawing

This is a new departure for me. But I have found my first experiments very rewarding. The drawings in themselves have no artistic merit. However, they force me to examine my subjects more closely, to interpret them in new ways.

So this is how I spend time with my subject matter, but how does it benefit me?

Here are five ways in which exploring and connecting benefit my work

I have a deeper understanding of my subjects

This is going to happen naturally, as a result of spending more time with them. But doing this in different ways also helps create a multi-faceted understanding.

I frame my work in new ways

I come to see my subjects in a light that I often had not viewed them before. This provokes new ways of expressing what I see in them.

 I understand what I want to say

Just as importantly, I often find out why I want to say it. The time I spend with my subjects leads me to understand what is driving my connection and how to express this.

It creates new projects

I often come away with more than one thing that I want to say about where I have been. Sometimes the issue is just how much I end up wanting to create!

I am more fulfilled

Thinking more about the subject and creating a deeper connection has made my creative practice much more rewarding. I am enjoying this “multi-channel” approach to my work.

Next time you talk to someone about your work, take a new direction

Stop chatting about what kit you are using. Don’t talk about style or technique. Have a discussion about why you are making images of what is in front of you. Tell others about the creative connection that you have with your subject.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this: please share them in the comments below.

PS Work with me to create the right direction for your work

I can help your smartphone photography in a number of ways:

There are special introductory prices for online workshops and personal mentoring until 28th June. Contact me to find out more and ask any questions.

Matt Parker
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May newsletter: letting go but doing a lot