Are You Limiting Your Inspiration?

Some of the best inspiration you can find will have absolutely nothing to do with photography.

Looking for inspiration in great photography is, of course, very important. However, if you start looking for ideas in other visual mediums, like graphic design, illustration, movies, architecture, etc., you will begin to really hit another level with your photography.

Your unique combination of influences will also help to differentiate your work. If all you ever look at are photography blogs, you are really limiting yourself in terms of what’s possible with visual art!

Today’s site of inspiration is quite the powerhouse. It’s called Fubiz and is a French site. Don’t freak out though, there’s is a button on the top right of the page (labelled En) that will translate it into English.

Truthfully, I don’t really read much on this site. :) I just look. And drool. The categories themselves are enough to get you super excited: Advertising, Design, Graphic, Inspiration, Motion, Music, Photography, Technology, Unexpected. Right on!!!

A few things to look for to inspire your photography:

• Message: All visual art is, on some level, about communicating a message. Try to determine what message all of these pieces are trying to tell you, and think about what they do to achieve that goal. How can you bring that technique into your work?
• Contrast: Graphic design and photography rely heavily on contrast to make an appealing piece of work. And by contrast I don’t mean the slider in Lightroom. I mean using size, colour, direction, expected/unexpected elements and format to create contrast. So look to see what the artist has done to draw you in and get you to look twice at their work. Often it will have something to do with bold contrast in some manner.
• Lines: We’re huge fans of lines. That sounds silly, but once you get “line addiction” it’s something that never goes away. Lines create movement, symmetry, frames, and interest in an image. They do the same in other forms of art, so look at how these artists use lines in their work. Of course, this is especially true in architecture.
• Composition: This exists in all forms of art, not only photography. Pay attention to how these artists compose their work. Is it balanced? Off balance? Does the composition draw you in? Why? Does it create movement? How does it add to their message?

Those are just a few guiding quesitons to help you draw inspiration from these varied art source. I’m positive that the more you study these other art forms, the more you’ll find it can heavily influence and inspire your photography!

One last thought: Inspiration is only useful if you go out and shoot. Simple. So if you spend some time today checking over this site, spend some time tomorrow shooting. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just go for a quick walk around your neighbourhood (bonus points if it’s at Golden Hour). Look for contrast, lines, a message, whatever. Be thoughtful about what you shoot, and set yourself some challenges to try based on the inspiration you’ve gained, and I suspect you will be quite excited about what you produce!