A little under two months ago an idea popped into my head late at night while I laid in bed desperately trying to fall asleep. Funny how sometimes the best ideas come when one is trying to rest, right? I quickly grabbed my inspiration and ideas notebook and scribbled it down. Afterwards my head was whirring with ideas for photographs and it took a while before I could power it down and fall asleep. The idea cannot be executed until I get back to Alaska, and thus I have a lot of time to further develop the idea; figuring out who will model, what props I want, what scenery, etc. etc. I hadn't seen a photo like it anywhere and I was getting excited that maybe this idea hadn't been thought of, but of course, I was wrong. I was scrolling through my "pages" feed on Facebook and came across a photo that is VERY similar to the photo I had in mind. I was obviously a little bummed because it was by a very well known photographer among the Facebook Photography Community, and I didn't want to take a photo and later be accused of taking someone else's idea. But then I got to thinking... If you don't in some ways use other peoples ideas and styles, how will you realize your own photography style? It may seem a little odd, I admit, taking photos similar to someone else's to develop a style of your own... Yeah it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. But wait! I'm getting to my point :)
I recently posted a status about the photograph I had seen in my feed and I got a very well written response, "We find inspiration in so many things around us that there are many people who come up with variations of the same idea...Your idea while similar to another will still come out different because of your personal take on things. It's not like you are trying to exactly copy someone so don't sweat it. When you do get an idea straight from someone else that's ok too - just link to them and give them credit for inspiring you." ~Stephanie
So, when you think about it, there are countless photos out there that are very similar to others in very obvious ways, but they are still unique because of the small details, you know? All photographers, and other visual artists, begin somewhere, and generally that "somewhere" is when they look up to another artist and attempt to make images, or paintings similar to this artist they admire. This happened to me in the beginning. I admired them so much and wanted my photos to look identical, but after trying to copy someone you start to realize that you have your own style. You start to see the small details in the photo that are different, start to realize what you want to change, or add, and you start to develop something that is completely your own.
While the art piece itself may look similar in ways to another, it is uniquely yours because of the details and the effort and love you've put into it.
We live in a world full of other human beings, over 7 billion to be exact. Not all of them are photographers, but they all have ideas, imagination, a creative side. Okay, in most cases they do, but lets face it, there are some people that are about as creative as a brick wall when it comes to art. That isn't a bad thing though, because they may have other passions in work, in hobbies, etc. I'm not trying to say that only artists are creative!
But in this world of 7 billion people that are constantly thinking, creating, imagining, how do you stay original? There is bound to be one(or many, many more) people out there that share the same thought process or creative drive as you. This really makes you think doesn't it? How do I stay original, creative? Well, the answer is simple. Just be yourself. So what if someone already took a photo similar to the one you have in mind, so what if the idea is overused and cliche, so what? Take the photo, edit it how you like, use your own creativity.
Before you start to look at this blog post funny, I'm not saying to copy someone's images prop for prop, color for color, subject for subject. Don't aim to take the exact same photo. You won't learn like that. You have to let your own creativity take over, let your imagination soar(yeah, yeah, cliche phrase, sue me!) I can't emphasize it enough, you must be yourself.
As I stated before, even though a photo may share the same basic and obvious idea, it is the small details that tell the photos apart. The angle may be different, there may be different colors, there is a different subject, different landscape, etc. There are always differences. Focus on those differences, see what tells your photo apart from their's and expand on that.
We are all naturally made differently, and while we may share the same basic similarities such as: we all have noses, mouths, stomachs, hearts and sometimes even the same ideas and thinking processes, we are different. No matter what. Like twins, no matter if a photo(or twin) seems to be identical, there are differences in personality, style, and other things.
In the end the point that I'm getting at is don't be scared to copy in small ways, but also, don't be scared to be yourself, use your own ideas. I know my photography has been inspired by photographers I look up to in many ways and I have tried to recreate images that already exist. If I hadn't, how would I have found out what my own style was? All photographers start somewhere, but it is up to each of them to determine where they finish.
If your photo is greatly inspired by someone else's, give them credit, they will probably be very flattered that you are so inspired by them that you attempted to do something similar. But again, I encourage you to do your own thing, make changes, add your own story.
This post ended up being a whole lot longer than I had expected, but I like to write, and put my ideas out there. Hopefully someone else will share these same thoughts and opinions, if you do, leave a comment, if you don't, leave a comment! I like to know what others think, I like talking and discussing, feel free to reply :)
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