Hello All-

What motivates you in your photographic creativity and why have you picked photography as your creative medium? Why do those of you who exhibit your work feel the need to exhibit?

-- Chuck Baker (cbaker@skypub.com), March 17, 1998

Answers

This is a very profound question and one to which a concise answer will fall far short of adequately dealing with the topic. I beleive that we all are creative in some way and the lucky ones are fortunate to find the correct outlet.

I think that those of us who enjoy photography are motivated by all external stimuli. Our images are an attempt to isolate that specific moment in time when the shutter opens and closes and captures the reflected light on the film.

We exhibit so that others may share the enjoyment of that moment!

-- Harold Todman (Harold_Todman@dmr.com), March 19, 1998.

Anything that serves to ease the existential angst of the human condition is worth pursuit. justin mcmaster

-- Justin McMaster (justinmcm@hotmail.com), May 26, 1998.

Not to seem juvenile or simplistic but with/for me it's always been either a spontaneous instant of recognition, an emotional response to visual stimuli, "Oooh! Look!" or some similar situation. Other times, it's a longer drawn out contemplative idea/process that slowly grows and stimulates action. I feel the need to make something in the studio, and this is what I think it looks like.... As I try to shoot it, it changes, practicality intervenes, ideas made concrete don't necessarily look the way we thought they did in our minds eye, etc.

I don't really feel the need to exhibit, it has always been enough to photograph - the act of setting up and shooting is reward enough. When I can afford it, I'll go 8 X 10 Polaroid all the way. The darkroom, while rewarding, has never been the magical experience that so many others relate, the joy of the images coming up in the developer, etc.

Why photography? I've always been visuallly oriented, a visual learner. I can never find someone's house unless I can visualize the it, or the neighborhood, or the streets they say lead to it. I usually give directions by saying things like "Turn right at the 4 very tall pine trees on the small hill by the mailbox..." etc. If I can't see a person or event from the past in my mind, I usually don't remember it. I do have smell oriented memories, but the visual ones are usually easier to place, recall, etc.

I tried film and video but they are both expensive, labor intensive and quite often involve other people with different ideas about the project, different motivations (this will help my career, look guide on my demo reel, ....) I really only need the stimulus of beauty, whatever that is to get me excited and make me want to set up.

-- Sean yates (yatescats@yahoo.com), September 24, 1998.