Creative – with one eye poked out

Documentary photography has turned from the real world to the every person’s different truth. Some photographers nowadays are willing to poke one eye out, to explore how you can see the world without it... I am purposely over exaggerating, of course. But, can you see that the concept of a photographic series as your own limitation, which actually helps you? That is what I am talking about, it is an eye poked out. It is a creative process, stigmatized with self limitations.

Speaking about limitations, it is interesting, how my own generation understands obstacles in creative process. Most of young photographers and artists are limited with financial and technical limits, while others are subjected to lack of creativity itself: “no inspiration phase”.

First group of obstacles (technical, financial) can actually be stimulating, forcing photographers not to cut corners and be more creative, just to achieve the same result as with better production means. The issue with creativity is far more complex. The obvious thing is that our (western) society of consumers has become addicted to creativity, praising creative people in every possible way. But, here is the catch. The most creative dozen of people (like people working in advertising, or most popular artists) are being praised by media and mainstream culture, while rest of the people are yearning for attention, and as a part of that the majority is imitating creative process of minority. It’s not referencing, but pure imitating: fake it!

It’s a question of honesty! How honest is your work? How can we honestly judge that? When all this meets new means of communication and at the same time you are in desperate struggle to look as a most creative person around, you get a clash. It’s an era of neocreativity.

Back to obstacles. I learned that all issues in creative process can be very much stimulating. All issues of project’s production, from the beginning to the end, will affect the project in many different ways. You can like it or not, it’s how it is. It is an manipulating nature of photography: even as a photographer you are manipulated. Speaking about the viewer…

Limits in creative process are like an eye poked out. I always consider my emotionality and mental state as an inspiration, because trough photography I am exploring the world around me. And, of course my responses to it. But it is just one of many ways of exploring, it is a part of visual exploration. Other part of visual exploration can also be drawing.

That is for me an important aspect: limitation of creative process is a cherry on top of chocolate cake. It is a factor that makes art interesting and fun to do.

photo: Antoine D’agata from Stigma project

If you know why, you can poke your eye out. But if you aren’t sure what you are doing, wait! Even if it is the latest trend in hipster’s society, wait! And when some time will pass, you’ll see.

image © Antoine D’agata

Text by Aljaž Celarc