Ebb and flow

It’s not that I am so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. – Albert Einstein

Over the years, I have come to realize it takes lots of patience to build bodies of work. I start out with a valid idea, feeling I hit the stride after taking a few good images, then I hit the stumbling block and struggle to move forward, after a little while, I may feel like I am yet making some forward progress. This two-step forward, one-step back process is part of creative life. One can get discouraged during the process, and never let any projects come to fruition. In the end, the only thing that helps is to persevere if you feel strongly about a project you are working on, embracing the ebbs and flows that come along with it.

Whenever I find myself struggling to move forward with any projects, I like to ask myself some questions that help clarify my motivation. I am encouraged to dig deeper and understand what draws me in to the project. If I am being honest with myself and decide I am doing the work for myself, instead of other people’s expectations, more likely than not I will stick with it.

To keep yourself engaged with a project, sometimes it is just as important to know when to take a break when I see signs of stalling. Take for this idea for a project I started last year “dark water”. I decided to test photographing bodies of water with a very fast shutter speed in the middle of the day with the brightest sunlight, significantly underexposing an image and see how far I can push the dynamic range. Instead of the usual light and airy water photos I used to get, I was hoping to get a very different tactile feel to the water. I made good progress with some images, but then I felt the project was too limited in scope, and I soon parked the idea when I couldn’t come up with alternatives to make the project aesthetically more diverse.

But then I never give up on the idea. Deep down I felt it was a valid idea worth exploring more despite the fact I couldn’t come up with a viable solution at the time. I didn’t let that discourage me, instead I focused my energy into finishing a few other projects that were more within reach. During these past couple of weeks, I decided to pick up the pace of photographing bodies of water, and I decided to revisit the “dark water” theme in addition of experimenting a few ideas while I was at it. To my pleasant surprise, I was able to move the project forward this time around, and along with it, I came to realize my work has taken a turn towards more abstraction during the break. This personal discovery wouldn’t have come about if I were to give up on the idea entirely.

This experience has taught me the importance of incubation when it comes to creative process. In this date of age, we want everything to happen so fast. We forget it used to take years for photographers to build bodies of work that were worthwhile to show to the public.

In the creative process, it is good to take some time to mull over the possibilities, let things simmer in our subconscious, give room for our brains to make new connections.

It is also important to learn the path is never smooth. As creative individuals, we must learn to live with ambiguity and uncertainty. Instead of letting frustration takes over me and give up on a valid project when steady progress is being made, I set it aside and work on something else for a while. Shifting gear will give my subconscious the much-needed space to work on the questions that I struggle to resolve right away. More likely than not, I am able to pick up the pace again with a fresh perspective and renewed enthusiasm after taking some time off.