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02-22-2014, 07:23 AM   #1
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Photography Numbness

I don't know if this is the relevant section for this, but I'm interested to hear whether other people have dealt with a feeling of futility in photography? And how they've overcome photographer's block.

I rarely take my camera out anymore, and I'm toying with the idea of selling all my gear as I don't use it enough to justify its cost. If I take it out, I might take a few pictures and feel alright whilst doing so, but things rarely strike me like they used to. Looking at my work now, I can't help but feel it's all very derivative and boring. But then when I look back, all my old stuff was as well, but at least there was something clicking.
I feel like I just can't make a photograph I'm particularly happy with, predominantly because I don't know what it is that I want the photograph to do. I tried shoot events and sports (the only situations that are ideologically appealing to me as a photographer now), done single lens challenges, tried shooting every day, bought a little camera (an olympus XA which is awesome) but I can't find that moment that grabs me and shakes me. I've changed scenery three times, tried street shooting (feels rude and invasive, I'd like to take their portraits but generally it's just because they were eye catching not because of who they were, and that feels wrong to me), tried: landscapes, macro work, weddings, JPEG only, B&W only, reading photo books & reading interviews and I just can't seem to get myself going again. I've been on a (very short and unrelated) CBT course as well and nothing has changed since.

Is it time to hang up my photography hat and move on? What things do people to to get over this, and does anyone else feel similar? Why do you take photographs?

02-22-2014, 07:44 AM   #2
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Maybe, you need something else to do, as in sport or hobby. Amateur Photography is a past time for pleasure, not a chore. I have wondered the same thoughts myself and tried to take photo with no theme or subject is just pushing the button. But some of the photos I have taken and ranked myself, give some pleasure to not yet give up, but maybe not try so hard for photos.

Hang in there, take a break, go some where different without a camera and you will wish you had a camera.
02-22-2014, 07:45 AM   #3
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Hang On?

Hello Mareket,
I think we all have periods when we're less or more inspired to take photos, but most times. it passes. Life has a way of interfering with our hobbies and recreation. But I wouldn't sell my gear just yet.
Try keeping it, but not forcing yourself to shoot, just go on with your life. Perhaps you'll decide to try camping, and bringing a camera would be handy. Or rock climbing, or swing dancing or find some new friends who open a different avenue of interest.
The great thing about photography is that it can be combined with many (if not nearly all) other activities. So, while it many not be the primary purpose for doing something fun, you can record and remember the events in your own way.
Keep what you need, until you don't need it anymore.
JMO,
Ron
02-22-2014, 07:58 AM - 2 Likes   #4
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For many years I was on a mission to shoot and display 'legacy-style' film photographs with legacy Pentax gear. My wife tolerated my photography hobby but her overall opinion was, "It's all been done already." That really discouraged me (I felt similarly to what you describe) and I sold almost everything except my original camera/lens kit (miraculously, there was a K35/3.5 way on the back of the shelf that I had 'missed'). I didn't take photographs other than snapshots for three years.

Some time later I asked my daughter about a very nice photo she had taken with her phone. During the ensuing conversation she told me, "But you haven't done it."

I can't say what is right for you - that isn't my place - but now I buy what I want and shoot for me.


Last edited by monochrome; 02-22-2014 at 09:53 AM.
02-22-2014, 09:15 AM   #5
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@Mareket, Maybe take a short break from photography. Continuing to push through in frustration risks turning your hobby into a hated chore. You said events and sports are appealing to you. Find an event happening in around 3 months and use that to test your return to photography.

QuoteOriginally posted by monochrome Quote
... "It's all been done already." ... "But you haven't done it." ...
The 2nd quote is perfect. If I tried to live by the 1st quote I would just sit on the coach and do nothing, because I'm unlikely to take the world's greatest photo, or discover a new planet, or invent a working cold fusion device.
02-22-2014, 09:50 AM - 1 Like   #6
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I haven't taken photos in quite some time merely on the idea that 'there is nothing to shoot'. I see other photographer's work and go 'oh man, that looks awesome' but when I go try to shoot I experience nothing but 'block'. Part of my problem is 1. I live far away (an hour and a half) from any kind of major city. 2. I hate to say it but to me it's not a very photography friendly place even at that. The 'not photography friendly' is on a whole number of levels.

I would say if possible to look at other people's work and see what 'inspires' you. Also if you can make friends that shoot too then by all means go out in pairs. I don't know hardly anyone here at all so it's a struggle for me all around.

Now for the good side... a few months ago I went to a renaisance festival and by all means I am not completely satisfied with the photographic elements of things, but I did get to do 'street photography' to my heart's content. It was really the first time ever that I was able to go out and take photos and have a warm reception doing so and to really test myself to any degree. It was so much fun.

I don't think hanging it up and selling gear is the answer. It's more like just hunt for something that piques your interest and allows for you to work. It's not easy...believe me.
02-22-2014, 09:58 AM - 2 Likes   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mareket Quote
I don't know if this is the relevant section for this, but I'm interested to hear whether other people have dealt with a feeling of futility in photography? And how they've overcome photographer's block. ......I feel like I just can't make a photograph I'm particularly happy with, predominantly because I don't know what it is that I want the photograph to do. Why do you take photographs?
Good question and tough to answer.

Photography, for me, has never been about photography, it's been about art. I've been trying to figure out what art is for a long time and I keep coming back to discovery, to revealing the unseen. I think artists see what most don't and if you get it right, it resonates with viewers. My view of judging it is two questions: Is it a good idea and is it well executed.

But why me? Its all been done. First, I think we have in us an innate desire to express ourselves. To do it well is generally hard work because there is a lot to learn and it isn't so easy. . But every once in awhile, it all works and the result is meaningful. Key to all of his is finding something you care about. Really care about, enough so that time and labor aren't noticed.

Dance, by accident, became my muse. Its portraiture, really. I never tire of it and theater and the stories and the people. I made it a business, my last career and I'm still learning and discovering every day. I cannot imagine being bored.



02-22-2014, 10:02 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by monochrome Quote
Some time later I asked my daughter about a very nice photo she had taken with her phone. During the ensuing conversation she told me, "But you haven't done it."
That is most assuredly a sound piece of advice, and I'll take it to heart. I'm just not very good as shooting for myself. Though you are right, shooting for yourself isn't only the most rewarding approach to photography, it's the only way you're going to make real art, even if no one else sees it as such.

But yeah, maybe a break is in order. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

QuoteOriginally posted by rbefly Quote
Or rock climbing, or swing dancing or find some new friends who open a different avenue of interest.
Time to find me some rock climbing, swing-dancing mates!
02-22-2014, 10:14 AM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mareket Quote
I'm just not very good as shooting for myself.
Neither am I. But I still have time.
02-22-2014, 11:32 AM   #10
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I can go for weeks or months without shooting, and then the bug will strike again. It might be a trip to Airdrie to visit my son and his son and finding a 4 H gymkhana in the campground (last July) or seeing Cameron Falls in a different light, or with more ice or less ice or one little bit where the water is flowing that I have never seen before. I just chuck the camera bag in the truck when I go. If it stays there for the whole trip, no sweat. But sometimes, oh those sometimes ...

Don't give up Mareket and don't push yourself to do it. Just take a basic camera such as your XA with you whenever you go somewhere. One day you will find you want it, and the bug is back.
02-22-2014, 12:32 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by monochrome Quote
"It's all been done already."
That is the story of my portfolio and one of the reasons why I have been avoiding the flowerbeds and waterfalls and mountains. After all, how many more pictures does the world need of a dramatic sky and mountain reflected in a lake? Even street photography gets stale after awhile.

Oh, well...are there no more stories to be told?


Steve
02-22-2014, 01:09 PM   #12
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Life is not meant to be a pursuit of things not yet done. There is nothing to prove when it comes to photography, other than the craft gives the photographer joy in the process and in the results. The images from the craft are there for *your* enjoyment first and foremost, then for others' if you so choose to share it. Reassess your motive for shooting. What are you doing it for? If you go out to the streets, travel distances to shoot landscapes, go to art shows or concerts just to shoot them, they must elicit some pleasure from you in doing so or it is hardly a worthwhile venture.

Right now, I shoot sparingly with my dSLR camera. In fact, I'm shooting more with my iPhone than with my dSLR, which is a shame for me. But priorities are slightly changed at present, and it is less practical for me to have the big camera with me where I go, but I know this will change in the future. So I would agree with others, take a break, don't be hard on yourself. If you don't return to some sort of love for photography in the future, where you would use the camera to justify its existence in your home, there's no harm done, and only a minor loss in selling your gear.
02-22-2014, 02:23 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by stevebrot Quote
how many more pictures does the world need of a dramatic sky and mountain reflected in a lake?
Almost every photo, song, painting, and book has been done in one way or another. That's okay. Don't let that stop you from doing it. Creating a truly unique thing that's never been done is an unrealistic goal (but congratulations if it happens). Anyone who thinks the world needs their photography is an egotistical blowhard. Even if one of the great photographers never came along the world wouldn't be much different today.
02-22-2014, 08:49 PM   #14
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I don't know, but I feel that there is so much to learn, so much to capture. I find photography to be a way of seeing; if I look at things I feel something, and attempt to capture that feeling. It is easy to fall into the habit of seeing technique or a frame, but forgetting to feel. I was reading Outdoor Photography this weekend, and they discuss the great landscape photographers. They took time to see.

I must add that my partner is unable to get out to see what I see, and I work to capture the magic of the moment so that she can experience it. When she feels the wonder that I felt when there, I hear about it. When it doesn't, I don't.
02-22-2014, 09:06 PM   #15
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I will weigh in by saying that I treat "photography" as strictly fun. When I use my camera, I call it "playing pictures", because "photography" sounds stuffy and intimidating. I don't have great skills, but part of the fun is knowing that I'm (probably??) getting better all the time. Is there no specific technique or subject matter that you want to master? I feel like I have a lifetime left of things to learn with this photography hobby. I can't keep my hands off my cameras and lenses in my free time. I record everything in images. I'm sure it's obnoxious to others, but I appreciate the visual journal and also the challenge of making a nice image.

I think the pleasure factor helps to keep it exciting. If it were "business", it'd be just like another day at the law office typing up Wills and divorce petitions: Depressing.

I hope you can find the pleasure in it again! But if not, don't be too hard on yourself. There are lots of amazing things to do in this world! Make memories and be happy.
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