When Collaboration Becomes a Language: How Visboom Helped Me Rebuild Creative Trust
During this period, I had a feeling of being "inside the glass box." Although the viewer would appreciate the final images the colour, the framing and depth, etc. the viewer would be completely unaware of everything about the scenes that led to me capturing those images. While I was producing final images, I was not having any interaction with the viewer. While I was delivering a final product, I did not have any relationship with the viewer. Each project felt like a business transaction as opposed to being a conversation with another person.
At some point in my career, I segmented to the point of not trusting the creative process anymore. I was doing all my editing, shooting and problem solving "in a vacuum," as if I had to be "alone" in order to be creative/unique. For a period of time, I also believed that by staying in my "creative vacuum," I was preserving my uniqueness.
I did not begin to unravel my dogma of "doing it alone" until the time came when I began to use and experiment with VISBOOM not because it was an editing shortcut for me to take, but rather as a way for me to rebuild my creative relationships and build my connection again with myself.
A Whole New Way of Sharing the Process
While my original breakthrough came from a large project that was well planned; my first was actually through a small project done in conjunction with a friend; the friend being a choreographer (their purpose was to create visuals using the movement of their dancers). In a traditional setting, this type of project would require a space to be rented, dancers to be booked, the lighting to be tested for many hours, and a great deal of luck to determine whether or not one is inspired by the time the performance arrives; we simply opened up VISBOOM together, created a concept, and collectively explored through VISBOOM at the same time, building our processing together in a collaborative manner with the environment and the effects created by each other's processes. The biggest surprise was not how fast we produced visual material, but how well we felt we connected.
For me, the most important link between the two of us was being connected to the emotional content of what we were doing through our immediate responses to each other's work; and I could not remember when I had experienced such an experience after so many years of being an artist. As we worked together and I watched as the two of us were creating work together, I felt as if I had finally returned to my own creativity after years of focusing on electronic mediums as an extension of my imagination.
The More I Think About My Work Visually, The More I Think About My Work Emotionally, Connection to My Work
As I began to work on many different projects, VISBOOM moved from being a tool for me to being a space for me to reconnect with the importance of emotion in my work.
My work with a small charitable organisation in Toronto has been one of my biggest learning experiences. They were looking for images that conveyed honesty; images that evoked dignity and quiet strength and avoided stereotypes. Rather than blindly guessing about what would produce these types of images or using a predetermined lighting setup, we turned to VISBOOM, and the tool provided a safe environment for us to identify the emotional tones that felt real and grounded. We used warm dusk lighting to create a sense of persistence. We used the gentle gradient of shadows to show depth without the weight of darkness. We used soft textures to convey the calming ability to keep pushing through life.
For me, this was the first time I created images with a collaborative collective. I no longer viewed the images as mine or theirs, but rather they were produced as an extension of us all bringing them into existence.
One of the most important lessons I learned from working on this project is that emotion can be richer when multiple perspectives are applied to the same concept. When images contain the perspectives of many different people, they hold greater truth.
The Rebirth of Creative Collaboration
Previously, the process to create images was a disjointed and disconnected series of "hand-offs." I would create. They would approve. A third person would make final edits. Each decision about the final image was made separately, with no connection to the previous decisions nor any opportunity for the subtlety, intuition, or emotional interpretation of the final product.
Before VISBOOM came along, we were just sending files back and forth, but now we are sharing ideas. We have previously taken part in conversations with clients and partners before the images were created, before a first draft had been delivered and when we felt ready for testing. We have opened up our feelings to clients and partners and shared not just requests, but supported one another to create and shape a story collaboratively.
By creating a rhythm of communication that is open and honest, I regained trust. Trust in my team, in the process itself and trust in me and my abilities.
I no longer feel the need to perform when being creative, but rather to have dialogues again.
The Importance of Time as a Door
I have always struggled with the concept of time as an artist. I have never had enough time in my career; I have always worked under pressure due to the amount of time I have left. However, with the efficiencies of VISBOOM, I was able to work quickly and efficiently but also creatively and collaboratively. With not spending countless hours cleaning up and generating additional content, I now have the opportunity to take time to breathe deeply and find new meaning, rather than force new meaning through the stress of time.
Late night conversations with creatives in Berlin and Vancouver's early morning brainstorming sessions have given rise to some of my favourite collaborations as well as the chance for midday experimentation with musicians who are creating album covers. There is a sense of fluidity that comes from being so close to one another (i.e. using video) and being so removed from each other (i.e. communicating via the telephone).
For some, time is considered an enemy; for others, time is a source of opportunity.
Global Creativity, Local Emotion.
One of the most surprising experiences that I have had with this collaborative process was a project with a small collective in Lagos who wanted to develop visual imagery that represents a combination of modern urban street culture and traditional geometric patterning in Architecture. We used VISBOOM to create the entire project virtually and worked together to create every facet of the project from texture to rhythm, from colour flow to cultural context.
There was one instance when a designer said, "This is the feeling of home." I stopped to think about what they meant; that anonymous comment has greater relevance than any other type of permission or contract could possibly have.
I was also reminded that even though creativity on a global scale may have a greater influence on local creativity, if it is done in the right way, it will enhance and develop local creativity.
Collaboration was once a source of anxiety for me. Today, it feels like the building block for everything I create.
Through my developing relationship with VISBOOM, I've come to understand that although tech may not replace emotional connection, what it does do is create a means to develop new forms of emotional connection. Prior to technology becoming commonplace, the way we connected was usually defined by how close you lived and no matter how far you were apart, it was still based on a physical and time based barrier. And that makes it hard to share ideas without having to personally meet and discuss things because of these physical barriers.
Through collaborative means we can create bigger things than would have otherwise been possible if a single person worked on their own.
My thought on this is simple: In order to create, we must allow ourselves to be open to other perspectives.
A large part of my experience has not only been to redefine how I engage but also to redefine how I view creativity. The VISBOOM process allowed me to create collaboratively while allowing me to continue to express my own voice and my distinct style of creative engagement.
Great visuals are more than just a collection of colours, light and form. They are a representation of our interconnected human experience.
And for the first time in years, I feel like my work is no longer trapped behind glass. It feels alive again. It feels like us.