Thursday, March 5, 2015
Getting started
How do you start a big new project? If there is no prompt to work from, what methods/tricks do you use to get new ideas going? What has worked and what has not worked for you in the past? This question is obviously geared towards your major projects, but you should also be thinking about how you will generate new work on your own after you graduate.
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In order to start a new project, I find it extremely helpful to just sit down and brainstorm for a while with a clear mind. Eventually, I am able to think of possible ideas that I would like to pursue for my final project. These creative ideas could be resulted from something I have visually witnessed / seen or from an old idea I never found time to generate. I tend to write down the first few things that come to my mind, as I like to go back and elaborate on each idea. Sometimes, I like to physically sketch an image so I could gain a better knowledge of what an idea may finalize as.
ReplyDeleteThere are some times when I can’t think of any ideas on the top of my head. When this occurs, I love to go online and explore artists who have shared an interest in a similar topic as me. I like to explore websites such as Tumblr or Flickr as I can see what other artists have created. Usually, this process allows for enough material and information to create a new spark within my brain as I think of an original idea I would like to explore.
I very rarely do my own major projects outside of school, and if I do the work normally doesn't have much of a meaning to it since it won't be being critiqued by art majors. If I am doing work for school, 90% of the time I'll start with images that don't have any meaning to them at all and build up from there. One thing that I find that is very useful is getting feedback from others, wether it be in person or through social media. I find that getting feedback in person helps a little bit more, perhaps because the conversation is easier to have and more is said. I also find that going back and redoing some of the work can help, even though the word "redo" is so painful to hear when I think i'm working on something successful and it ends up not being what I or the other person want's it to be.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I'll think of project ideas when I'm doing something not even photography related. I keep a list of these ideas so that I can go back to them when I have free time. I usually brainstorm new ideas on nights when I'm having a hard time falling asleep. Usually my project ideas start when I notice something in my environment that I think would be interesting to photograph. Other times I'll think of new ideas that are related to past projects of mine. If I'm really stuck for an idea I'll go on websites like flickr, cargo collective, and tumblr and look at other artists' work for inspiration.
ReplyDeleteThis project in particular was pretty hard for me to start for some reason. I usually don't have too much trouble coming up with an idea when I am given somewhere to start, but since this project was completely open-ended, I struggled for a while. What helped me the most was to think about things in my life that I am interested in, regardless of whether or not I think they would make for an interesting project photographically. After that, I try to take those general ideas I came up with and figure out how to translate them into a body of work. I find that by using ideas that I care about in my life and finding a way to respond to them, I allow myself to become involved and passionate enough with the project that it feels like I am actually doing something that interests me, rather than just fulfilling an assignment.
ReplyDeleteWhen I want to think about a new project or series to start I try to go out and just take pictures of anything i can, re-edit some old photos, or just go out and skateboard. This frees my mind to wander, and one image or thought could lead to an idea for a series/project, or I could just think of something I would like to shoot while I'm out and I'll write it down and that will be the start of a new project for me.
ReplyDeleteFor this project I had trouble getting an idea of where to start because there was no prompt. I found myself going all over the internet, reading, and just sitting down and thinking which eventually led to me coming up with a loose idea of where to start. I think the development of any project comes from shooting anything and everything you want for it and going back and looking at how you would like to focus it.
I’ve always preferred projects that do not have a prompt. When working on a new project, I do not like to think of it as a “project” or “series” at first. As soon as these words exit my mouth, I begin to question everything I’m making. Do these images fit into my project? What is this about? Does this even make sense? I’ve come to realize that for my own workflow, I need to make images for weeks before I discover what I am trying to establish as a concept in my images, individually and as a whole. The current work that I’m making (which I showed this class around midterm), has taken a dramatic shift after being down south and photographing during the daytime (everything else has been made at night). Do the images fit into my previous work? Not really, yet. Do I think there is potential for everything to come together as I continue making work? Absolutely.
ReplyDeleteWhen starting a new project, I tend to think about what kind of images I want to make and why. Sometimes i visualize and plan out what i'm hoping to shoot. Nothings set in stone, and I often shoot a lot and see what is work and what's not. Sometimes thinking too much ahead of time hasn't worked. I've gotten stuck or not though of certain shots. At that point I try and stop over thinking and just make work and let that guide where my project heads.
ReplyDeleteIf I am faced with an upcoming project with no prompt, I tend to stick with themes that relate to or appeal to me and the things I am interested in. I may go into a project with a specific idea in mind, only to take it in a completely different direction half way through. Which is not necessarily a good thing, but if I like the work more after the change I will stick with that. Sometimes project ideas will come to me when I am not thinking about photography at all. Other times I will have a very specific idea and not know how to go about doing it and I will get stuck. Eventually, the project comes together, I just have to keep trying until I get it right.
ReplyDeleteWhen trying to come up with new ideas for projects, I tend to go back through photos that I have taken in the past and see if I want to work off of them or start something brand new. Once I come up with an idea for a project I then think, is it a realistic project that can be completed? Do I have all the resources to do it? I try to visualize what I want to accomplish in my head. I write down a plan to execute the project. Once I have a game plan, I then begin shooting. I always want my work to mean something to someone, so i like to have multiple subjects in my projects so more people will relate to it. Most of the projects I do I am some what passionate about them. If iI can not connect to them on some level, how will my audience?
ReplyDeleteWhen I try to come up with a completely new idea for a project without any prompt like thesis, I like to draw on some of my current influences, things that I feel are important to my life currently and also I like to use projects to further myself and how I see the world around me so those 2 aspects are pretty consistent when I am starting a new project. For a while I felt that I had to have some sort of social implication tie into my work from the beginning, and so I took some courses in Sociology to learn some theory and how that could apply into my work, but I started to realize that those implications usually develop once I am well on my way in my work. I don't really visualize a specific thing I want to shoot, a lot of the times I will just end up shooting for myself and realize that there is something within what I am doing when shooting freely that I want to further explore through a project. I usually have some sort of theme that I follow to different extents for different projects but usually these themes change depending on what I am interested in at the time.
ReplyDeleteI like to get ideas down on paper and try them, check it off, and see if i should approach it in different manner a second time around. Often I find that I'd love to redo an entire project, or just develop it more, but sometimes time is a huge restraint. So for long-term personal things, I think taking time and going back to it often helps. Like letting it "marinate", so to speak, and maybe looking at the images with a new mindset a while after creating them, and seeing where to go from there.
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