Getting the Joy and Inspiration Back

By Kim Casamitjana

During the studies we all reach a certain point where we are bored of photography and struggle to pick up the camera. Quite understandable considering the amount of projects and great innovative ideas we need to come up with, and execute, constantly. So, here is a little list of things you could try out to get some of that inspiration and joy back.

Gossip sessions with people from your department about teachers and other students. Might not be morally and ethically correct, but it is great for bonding. And you get to let out some of the frustration you accumulate, and what better then with a group of people who feel the same way? I would combine this with the next point.

Screaming/Crying session at the beach or a hill. Feedback after feedback talks can get quite exhausting and frustrating.

Sports, the most effective way to keep depression away, stay fit and sleep well. It releases happy hormones, makes you feel good, gives you confidence and helps with stress.

Drink some of those expensive green juices and ginger shots.

A phone call with your parents and family. They will probably be quick in reminding you how lucky and blessed you are for being able to study what you like.

Write down the reason why you started creating art in the first place. What do you like about it, how does it make you feel?

Hang it up in your room and re-read it every now and then, because most likely at some point you'll be wondering why/when you decided to study this and spiral into questioning your entire life.

Make friends in other departments and go chill in their classrooms and studios. It's like a breath of fresh air while still in the academy.

Sit in the sun and go buy some vitamin D, very much needed in this country.

Get some normal friends. Non-artsy people. They make everything a bit more simple and can also offer different feedback to your work. You can find them at bars, clubs, sport activities, fitness studios, other universities, public libraries, cafe's...

Go out and hug a tree for at least 10 seconds. Don't question it, just do it and thank me later. If you do it barefoot, extra happiness and inspiration.

Spend a whole afternoon cooking or baking, maybe a brownie, crêpes, or cookies.

Go on mental health hot girl walks. Even when you are tired, even when you are mad. And look at the sky. And realize how teeny tiny you are. And how the stress is not permanent and everything will be fine.

Go out and run your whole street up and down, just because you can.

Readings

→ ② THE STORY OF ART WITHOUT MEN

I must admit, this was a buy out of guilt. I picked it out from the shelf at the book store and briefly paged through it and my immediate thought was “None of these art works are by men? A woman made this?” and I was immediately ashamed of such thoughts! Seeing how much I needed to learn, I had to buy this book and I am so glad I did. I am not through it but I am tearing through it at any moment I get. So many new (to me) names and works that hold so much more power knowing that they have been, for the most part, ignored and cast aside because of the patriarchal gaze of the art world. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

“..she created this positive, beautifully written corrective, which should become a founding text in the history of art by women. Starting in 1500 and shooting through to artists born in the 1990s, The Story of Art Without Men brings centuries-old figures to life while giving form and gravitas to emergent voices and covering every substantial movement from dadaism to civil-rights-era antiracist art along the way.”

- Bidisha Mamata for The Gaurdian

I remember in the first year studying at KABK and having a visit with the guidance counselor to work through some of the difficulties that I had been facing at the time. (Talk to people about how you are feeling!). I remember she recommended a book, she wrote the title down on a sticky note. I kept the stick note with me for a while, it floated around my bag and popped up stuck on new things as I pulled them out for classes, but I never bought it, never gave it a chance. Then recently a friend and photographer (Adrianna Ault) mentioned that she had picked up the very same book and shared a quote which resonated with her. ‘I’ve been reading Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland lately and really loved the included quote from Stephen De Staebler: - “Artists don’t get down to work until they feel the pain of working exceed the pain of not working.”’ So I decided it was finally time for me to buy a copy for myself. Only a few pages in, I realized why I was recommended to read it. Although, I believe I would have perceived it much differently in first year than I am now, almost a year into the realm of post-graduation. Perhaps this is precisely the moment I need it most.

The authors of Art and Fear examine some of the perils of art making with great insight. They discuss reasons people either don’t ever make a start in making art, or quit in the process. Many of us just talk our way out of a promising future with self-doubt and unrealistic expectations, when it’s really non-magical qualities like perseverance and grit that are essential to becoming an artist.

As a long time lover of Sally Mann’s photographs and frequently re-reading/ watching her interviews, I was very excited to have so much of her voice, perspective, and back story to read about. This book gives so much insight into what lies behind the making of her photographs, what embeds/imbues them with so much spirit.

“...the Mann of Hold Still presents another side of the artist entirely. The book insists on putting those images and that life in context, almost literally: though this is not a heavy, coffee-table art book, its text is laced with photographs. Some are archival, from Mann’s family, but others show the evolution of her art…” - Michelle Dean for The Guardian

Draw Your Weapons

After Reading ‘Hold Still’ I asked friends if they had other Reading Recommendations. I received one from Alumni of Master of Photography & Society Will Boase -‘Draw Your Weapons’ by Sarah Sentilles. I have not yet read it but was told it is “Incredible!” so it is on my list.

“Now more than ever, the world needs a book like Draw Your Weapons.

With mastery, urgency, and great courage, Sarah Sentilles investigates the histories of art, violence, war, and human survival. In her haunting and absorbing narrative, the act of storytelling, itself, becomes a matter of life and death.”

— Ruth Ozeki, author of A Tale for the Time Being