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How can I (be) inspire(d)?

Ballou34 - 6 Comments

I started taking pictures of toys because of others.

At first, I had seen the work of Chris McVeigh, Avanaut, Smokebelch and Brett Wilson among others and what they created inspired me.

I wanted to do like them, but not exactly like them.
I was inspired but I did not want to copy.

I believe that our imagination does not have any limits so why going the simplest path and just copy the work of others.
We are creative people, so let’s create.

'There are really three parts to the creative process. First there is inspiration, then there is the execution, and finally there is the release.' - Eddie Van HalenClick To Tweet

Let’s focus on the first part.
What are my inspirations?
How do I get my ideas?

What is my recipe for making pictures?
What are the ingredients that inspire me?

As I said in my last post, I can get photo ideas everywhere so I write them down not to forget them. My ideas arrive when I don’t expect them: at work during a boring meeting (the best time I get my mind to float away…), during my daily commutes, in my shower (I don’t have waterproof sticky notes, though), …  Continue reading “How can I (be) inspire(d)?”

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The Sound of Wandering

Maëlick (aka Reiterlied) - 10 Comments

I have three distinct main sources of inspiration and each relates in some way to toy photography. That makes it very convenient for our sticky note exercise.

Wanderlust

I love traveling and until recently, most of my pictures were taken while traveling abroad. Even though I’ve always thought that the place I used to call home has a great photographic potential, I never really managed to find the inspiration I needed to take photos at home. But in addition to the need of a change of environment, there is simply the fact that I love the world. The Earth is a great place with such a variety of landscapes and people. Even if I can’t travel, the Internet is there to inspire me. It’s an open window on the world, with almost unlimited photos, videos, and text created by people. There is not a single day that goes by without stumbling on something truly inspiring, something that makes me think that I need to get out with my camera.

Wandering in the North

Cinema

Although I don’t have a very broad cinematographic knowledge, it’s the only form of visual art that always had a great impact on me. There are a few movies that had such an impact on me when I was a kid: Star Wars, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, the Tim Burton movies from the late 80’s and early 90’s are the first to come to my mind. Continue reading “The Sound of Wandering”

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Because I can…

HerrSM - 2 Comments

As the days are passing by and two o seventeen is growing older our journey of twelve words is with me wherever I am. Be it at work, on weekends when out and about or sometimes while taking a shower. The last days had me thinking about the word of February: inspiration.

What inspires me?
Or who does so?
What is inspiration to me at all?
A feeling?
A state of mind?
A signal that starts something in me whenever I notice it?

Two weeks ago Boris gave an insight into the origins of the word and about the different facets of it. Let me explain my idea of it and what it is connected with for me. Continue reading “Because I can…”

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Inspiration – TED Talks

Boris - 2 Comments

We have been sharing on twitter some of the TED talks that inspire us and we thought it was a good idea to put them in a little list (we teamed up with the folks at list.ly to get some interactive social lists here on our little website, so expect some more lists in the future. If you are a list.ly user, do let us know so we can follow eachother there as well). Continue reading “Inspiration – TED Talks”

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Inspiration

Boris - 3 Comments

Inspiration. Derived from the latin inspirare or to breathe in is according to Wikipedia the unconscious burst of creativity in a literary, musical, or another artistic endeavor like shooting plastic.

Inspiration. Our second word in our journey here in twenty seventeen has often been credited with a divine power. The muses with the old greeks or gods like Odin here in the Nordics.  In more recent times, renowned psychologists like Sigmund Freud brought the creative drive back to the subconscious and the inner psyche of the artists. And others linked inspiration directly to the social and political environments where one is living in.

“I am your Inspiration”- Cleo, Muse of History, Greek GoddessClick To Tweet

Most probably all of the above has some truth to it, but it would take us way beyond the sound of shooting plastic. When looking at this month word of inspiration we want to explore what is inspiring us as individuals.

What are our divine or much more down to earth triggers and sources of inspiration?

When talking about inspiration, we want to take you (and ourselves) on a journey of what inspires us, and see how this influences our creative work.

Looking at inspiration way beyond our direct creative field and see how we can use this inspiration in our own journey.

Look for who inspire us in our day to day lives. Who has been an influence and brought inspiration to us throughout our journey here on this planet. What exactly was it that attracted us, inspired us, and how can we bring this now back into our plastic photography.

This one is not easy … Continue reading “Inspiration”

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How do you choose the toys you photograph?

Shelly - 14 Comments

This past weekend I meet up with some local toy photographers for an afternoon of companionship, conversation and photography. As I was looking around at my friends hard at work, I was struck by the variety of toys they had brought along as subjects. There were dinosaurs, Star Wars action figures, Bratz dolls, LEGO mini figures, custom figures, anime figures, and plenty more I couldn’t identify. Which brings me to my question – how do you choose the toys you photograph?

Continue reading “How do you choose the toys you photograph?”

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Connections Reflections

brett_wilson - 7 Comments

Things I’m learnding!

As we surge towards the end of another year, it seems appropriate that I reflect on this year as a member of the Stuck In Plastic collective. I’d best get it out of the way early, because if all goes to plan (which it rarely does) the next couple of posts from me should take care of themselves. Plus, if I don’t write it now, chances are I’ll forget. Continue reading “Connections Reflections”

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Reimagined re:image

brett_wilson - 3 Comments
Walkies

Return to render

AliceinCleveland’s post Doctor Photostein’s Monster about revisiting past photos struck a nerve of late. AliceinCleveland wrote about returning to photos and bringing them back to life through re-editing. I’ve returned to some of my earlier photos, well, more the ideas behind the photos, to reshoot them for the exhibition. Continue reading “Reimagined re:image”