Creative Fears and Wishful Fragments of Thought

Each time I go out into the city to take photos, I feel lost. But I don’t mind.

I’ve learned that this is my starting point. It’s the result of shaking off those thoughts of mundane things like bills, invoices, and everyday life, to open up to a whatever happens situation that I hope might occur when I simply go out and start taking photos.

It’s similar to the feeling of sitting in a comfy chair at your desk, and staring at a blank page. Ten minutes earlier you were eager to sit down and write, now, you are faced with the task of figuring out what to write.

Taking a photograph, writing a story, have one thing in common. They are both expressions of the creativity that we feel the need to get out onto paper or into visual form.

A snap shot of the world, or a small corner of it, can be wholly satisfying for many people. We can learn from each encounter, each attempt at an idea as a creative pursuit and improve on what we do.

After standing in the street, watching the world go by, and finally lifting my camera to take a shot of a passer by in colourful clothes, a wall as backdrop, the sparkle of a wet pavement, I no longer feel lost.