Personal Expression in Photography - Blog Series Article 2
So why should we attempt to add personal expression into our work?
I try to answer two important questions:
Most importantly what does adding more personal expression into our photographic work bring to us personally?
People often say don’t photograph for others, photograph for yourself, that’s easily said but how do we do that, and in what ways?
I would argue that seeing ourselves reflected in our work raises the opportunity to feel elements of personal satisfaction, self-esteem and self-actualisation, in simple terms the realisation of achievement, purpose and some fulfilment of our inner potential.
People’s needs change over time; however, one might consider American psychologist Abraham Maslow’s "A Theory of Human Motivation", which has been used in occupational and personal psychology for many years, as a framework or guide to our motivation & happiness in our pursuits in life.
(Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs)
Applying this to our personal development in photography, the top two sections (purple and green) may describe why many people subscribe to the appeal of creativity, practicing one or other form of art or at least reading and appreciating art & cultural subjects.
I think it’s very worthwhile for us to consider what personal expression can bring to our photography, when it’s appropriate and how we might achieve that.
The key things it brings is self actualisation, expression of our creativity and realisation of thoughts, feelings and perspectives in art & photography. This may be expressed in terms of style of work, mood of the work, consistency over time in reflecting how we think things can be portrayed.
The challenge for most of us is how we do that over and above being proficient at our chosen craft, over and above creating technically excellent and or aesthetically appealing images.
In the next article I explore the interplay between creativity and personal expression, and how we might introduce more personal expression and intentionality into our work.
