There’s nothing as magical as that moment when you discover your artistic voice, that elusive but definitive something about your work that proclaims, “Hello, World! It’s me! This is who you’ve been waiting for!” That voice is uniquely yours, has its own personal flair, is unmistakably you. Your voice has been inside you all along, speaking to you, trying to be heard. Listen to that voice and watch your self grow.
One of our main goals in photography is the effective expression of your subject, an idea, an emotion, a scene. When you document the expressive nature of a subject, you are inherently expressing a piece of yourself. No one can photograph the subject in the same way you do. Your connection with the subject is unique. Use that expressive power to communicate clearly and boldly with the viewer as only you can do. Here are my 6 tips to get you started:
1. Discover what you love, what brings you unadulterated joy.
2. Have the courage to speak for yourself and not to allow others get in the way of your freedom of artistic expression. Follow your creative impulses without fear of judgment. Don’t second-guess yourself or censor your choices. Open yourself to artistic freedom with total abandon.
3. Give yourself permission to experiment and possibly fail. Take some time to photograph for no one but yourself, your art. For now, there’s no correct or incorrect in how you express yourself. The more you speak to yourself through your art, the more proficient you’ll become, naturally. Never stop exploring.
4. Turn off excess stimuli. Narrow your focus to one subject. You may find your voice in approaching your work as a collective series rather than a collection of individual images. When others see your work, they’ll associate its subject with your voice and your art.
5. Recall the experiences that made your heart race, the very seconds that set that particular moment apart. Try to recreate that in your photographs, to share your gusto for life.
6. Discover other artists and examine how they share their personal experiences in their work. Exactly what about their work speaks to you?
Jan is speaking on finding your vision at Click Away this October! Learn more here.
All Photography by Jan Tyler
Words of wisdom.
What great words of wisdom, I love especially point #3. Giving oneself permission to get creative is important.
Thank you, Iris! <3
So much good advice here Jan!! And of course the images…. <3!
Love this, Jan. Your work is always so inspiring and so easily identifiable as ‘you’.