I have been reading Think like an Artist by Will Gompertz. And I think it has been rather good at getting me to think a bit more about my own creative process. I hope that I am not to old to learn new tricks, these so far are some of the standout lines that I have taken from the book as inspiration.

“If at first you don’t succeed, don’t try exactly the same thing again. You won’t succeed, again. Instead, have a think, evaluate , correct, modify and then try again. Creativity is an iterative process.” Pg43

I like this idea, don’t give up! but don’t repeat the same thing. After all it is not a mistake, just I have found out that it is not a way of it succeeding so in effect I have discovered something. To improve then, I shall think about what I am doing more, reflect and alter it. However, I will also keep going.

“The crucial thing is to keep going. Artists appear glamorous and blessedly detached, but in reality that are tenacious grafters: they are the proverbial dog with bones, they are still out there gnawing away long after most of us would have given up and gone home.” Pg43

I know I can be dogmatic in pursuit of something and maybe it is time to become that again. I think the past few years with the caring that I have been doing has taken this aspect of my personality and given it a holiday.

“For those people pursuing a creative goal, life should be treated as a lab. Everything you do feeds into everything you do. The trick is to be able to distinguish between the elements you should keep from previous work or experience and those you must let go.” Pg48

I have been thinking seriously about subjects I want to photograph and my approach to the work that I want to make and I am now starting to feel like my ideas have changed so my work will. So more experimenting in how I want my work to look.which leads to the next quote from the book.

“Finding a way to express your personal response to the world around you with a distinct technique and style is not something that generally come quickly or easily. But once discovered, it provides a platform upon which an entire oeuvre can be built,” pg 48

All work we make as a photographer is filtered though our perceptions idea and desires, we achieve style and technique by making choices on how we want our work to look. I suspect that my next projects will look different to what has come before as I feel different.